Homily: 28th Sunday in OT 2016 - Father Damien and the lepers

You may remember, a few years ago, Pope Benedict canonized Father Damien of Molokai. Father Damien was a priest from Belgium who went to work with the lepers on the Hawaiian island of Molokai.  He spent sixteen years caring for the lepers’ physical, spiritual, and emotional needs at the leper colony

Leprosy was considered so dreadful, people were so afraid of lepers, that they were outcast, sent to live estranged from the rest of society. This heroic priest, Father Damien, went to minister to them. He was immersed into their lives, he embraced them, anointed them, baptized them, he sat with them when they were dying, he really became their pastor and shepherd.

Molokai was not a pretty place—the rotting flesh of the lepers gave off a smell like that of an open grave. Father Damien was criticized for his work—they called him careless. Father Damien also had no priestly assistant and no other priest to hear his confession. Once he rowed out to a passing ship which had another priest on board. He asked the priest to come down to hear his confession, and when this request was denied, Father Damien shouted up his confession, where anyone could hear.

Father Damien built churches and houses for the lepers. He sought funds from both Catholics and Protestants, distributed food and clothing to all. He dressed the lepers’ wounds, tried out new treatments, and built orphanages for the boys and girls. When people died, Father Damien not only offered the funeral rites, but often built their coffins himself.

Father was praying his breviary one day, when a leper had brought him a hot pot of tea. The leper tripped, and the scalding water was poured all over Father’s legs and feet, but the priest didn’t flinch. It was then, too, that he realized he had contracted the disease. From that day, when he would preach, he would say, “my fellow lepers”…

And yet, when he himself contracted the disease, he did not flee into misery and shame.  He became a suffering servant, “a leper with lepers”.  And during the last four years of his life he continued to build hospitals and ministered to his fellow lepers.

We heard in the Gospel, one of the many stories of Jesus healing the lepers of his day. St. Damien patterned his life after Jesus, in a way, because Jesus did not hesitate to reach out to those society considered “unclean”.

In a sense, Jesus amidst the lepers shows us something quite powerful about God’s love for us, and helps us to understand the purpose of the incarnation. God in his love for humanity, took on the flesh, dwelt among us, we who had become unclean due to sin.  God the Son, immersed himself in sinful humanity and embraced us—in our waywardness, in our corruption, our tendencies to selfishness and lust, and coldness toward one another.

Think about that. God himself, who created us to be full of life and love, did not abandon us when we contracted the disease of sin, the leprosy which causes parts of our souls to become rotting. He lived among us, forgiving us, teaching us how to be human again. God is not distant, but has placed himself smack-dab in the middle of the messiness of our lives.

We do well to remember that whenever we feel like lepers, estranged, lonely, lost, outcast. God is not only present in the beautiful, warm, tender moments.  God is able to be present when life becomes ugly, diseased, contaminated. We have a God who enters in, embraces us in our leprosy.

Yes, God is present in the joy of a wedding, but He is also present when a spouse is lost after 60 years of marriage, or when a child dies by a tragic accident or a rare disease. In the funeral services I always like to remind the grieving that even though there is so much grief and sadness when a loved one dies, we can still know God’s peace, because he does come into the dark times of life to bring comfort and mercy and an increase in faith.

I think of our poor brothers and sisters in Haiti. Nearly 1000 people have died in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. And yet, in this natural disaster, God draws close to the afflicted through his Church. Catholic Relief Services because of the charitable contributions of Catholics like us, are able to offer emergency shelter, clean water, food, living supplies for the displaced, funds for the rebuilding of destroyed homes. We aren’t having a special collection or anything, but consider donating a few dollars to Catholic Relief Services by visiting their website.

For as Christ comes to the afflicted, we are often called upon to be his hands, his feet, his mouth speaking words of comfort. As Christ reached out to the outcast, we are to reach out to the lonely. Perhaps, there is a widow on your street who could use a visit, or a home cooked meal. As the seasons get colder, perhaps you might consider becoming a Eucharistic minister, to bring Holy Communion to the homebound this winter.

We all suffer from our own afflictions, and are all busier than ever. But like Father Damien, who even after he contracted leprosy continued to minister. Our faith, the example of the Lord Jesus, impels us into the lives of others. We are not meant to live isolated from the needy, more concerned about fall sports than the lonely, poor and afflicted. Nor must we allow our own afflictions to keep us from serving the needs of our neighbor.

Where did Father Damien get the strength for this heroic ministry? From the same God who comes to us in this Mass, under the humble appearance of bread and wine. He comes to us, poor sinners that we are, to perfect us in charity, to urge us to work always for the glory of God and salvation of souls.