My friends, here we are, this year, on the cusp of Lent, our annual pilgrimage with our brother Jesus, as he completes his journey of love—conveying his Abba God’s over-the-top love for each of us.  More on this as we move into Lent beginning on this coming (Ash) Wednesday. 

   As I said earlier in the bulletin, Lent begins on our national day of love this year, Valentines’ Day.  Some may be grousing about this fact, but from a spiritual perspective, I think it is awesome to connect the two, because when we reflect on the life of our brother Jesus, what but, love, was he about in his short, earthly journey?  But, as I said, more on that in the coming days and weeks. 

   Today’s Scriptures, not unlike many, are a bit confusing if we simply stay on the surface, with the 1^st reading from Leviticus being a case in point.  On face value and with a first, read-through, we might be scratching our heads thinking, what is the point of this?

   Here, if we go deeper, we can perhaps find a meaning for our present day.  We must first remember that the book of Leviticus has many rules and rituals for daily living of good, Jewish people.  Being that they didn’t know much about leprosy, or other skin diseases, it might have made sense to these pre-Christian folk to shun and set apart someone with a disease they didn’t understand.  But again, what does that have to do with us in a world where this disease is understood, and can be cured if detected early and treatment sought? 

   Let’s look, for our purposes here, at the notion of being, “sent away” or taking oneself away, for a time, to be at a better place.  For me this calls to mind the times when our children were young, and perhaps became upset with something that was being asked of them, or they were having a bit of a tantrum about something and couldn’t be reasoned with.  We, as their parents told them that they had to go to their room, “to be alone” for a time until they could act better—our thinking was, that their screaming and upset-ness could be done in their rooms, as long as they were safe, and then they could return when they felt better.

   We find in Mark’s gospel another story of a leper, and learn that Jesus’ response was, “to be moved with pity” – a good response to finding someone who is suffering.  Jesus does what we would expect him to do in curing the suffering man.  Then, as in the 1^st reading from Leviticus, sends the now, cured man, to the priests as Moses and Aaron commanded their people to do.  In this we see that our brother Jesus respects the law and follows it, to the best of his ability, for the good of others—or, in other words, it is always about the “people” not the “law.” 

   Looking more deeply at the 1^st reading, especially the idea of “needing to go off, and be alone” when one is found to be “unclean” is an idea that we can perhaps look at in a deeper way, as I think we would all agree that we could be emotionally, and spiritually, as well as, physically, “unclean,” and in need of “time alone,” to be cured in some way, and more ready to be with and for the rest of humanity. 

   We see Jesus’ need in today’s gospel, “to go away, alone,” for a time, because he has, interestingly enough, done something good!  I am sure there was a great struggle within him to have the people hear, “all of his message,” and not just be taken up in their personal needs for physical cures. In other words, Jesus wanted the people to “lay his words on their hearts” so that they could then, be “moved with pity” too, for others. 

   In other places as well, in Scripture, we see Jesus “going away to be alone,” to rest, to pray, to be restored.  I think this is good for all of us to reflect on in the actions we take on in and for our world—we too, from time to time, must take some moments for ourselves, to restore, to rebuild our own psyches, our minds, and hearts, to be our best.  Goodness doesn’t flow from the proverbial, “empty cup.”  Even in the example of our frustrated children that I gave in the beginning—time away allows for deeper thinking, and hopefully the realization, that how I am in the world can’t just be about me.  We also call this in our day, “tough love.” This was usually the case and when they came back, things were better. 

   Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians today fleshes out for us, a bit more, how we are, to be, for ourselves, and for others.  He tells us that basically, he wants to be there for others, doing whatever he can for those in need, saying, “I do this by seeking not my own advantage, but that of the many” – he tells them and us, “to imitate [him] as [he] imitates Christ.” 

   This notion of “not seeking his own advantage,” is one that the greater part of our Congress in Washington could take to heart.  The reason that they can get, little or nothing done is because many of them have forgotten the oaths they took when sent there by the voters—to care for the needs of all the people. 

   This past week I had the opportunity to hear and see a video of a conversation between Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in the TV series, The Chosen, and Bishop Robert Barron.  I was most impressed with Jonathan’s use of the word, “humility” for how he feels in playing the part of Jesus.  He shared that before taping a new segment of the series, he always prays that, “he will not get in the way,” of God speaking through him.  I believe such a prayer should be on our lips, and in our hearts, and especially for all those in positions of leadership within our Church. 

   As readers and hearers of my homilies know, I am not fond of our bishop, but in this production, I came to see him in a bit of a different light—the exchange between these two, “men of God,” had many “light” moments as they bantered with each at times and seriously discussed the impact of The Chosen on the people seeing it.  I often find the bishop, “too much in his head” without connecting what he is saying to the lives of present-day folks.  Jonathan challenged him a bit to show us another side, which I appreciated seeing.

    So, my friends, I lay all of this before us today, challenging us, as the people of old, to do deeper, finding those places in our lives that may be “unclean” to use the Scripture terminology today—or we might say, not just right, in need of “time alone,” to become, “our best selves.”  Perhaps our prayer today could be that of Jonathan Roumie’s who humbly attempts to “play” our brother Jesus, praying that “we [too] would not get in the way” of our loving God speaking through us. Amen? Amen!