patrick jane forums

A leper approached Jesus with a request, kneeling down as he addressed him. 'If you will to do so, you can cure me.' Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said: 'I do will it.  Be cured.'" 
Who are the outcasts of our society?  Are the outcasts people with AIDS or other terrible illnesses?  Are the outcasts the poor of the third world?  Are the outcasts the immigrants?  Are there outcasts in your family or my family?  Is the outcast a  son or daughter, brother or sister, or cousin who has embarrassed the family by getting involved with illegal activities or living an immoral lifestyle? 
Are we willing to reach out to them? Are we willing to touch the outcast, or are we afraid that we might become unclean? Perhaps, if we resume friendship with that difficult cousin, the rest of our family will have nothing to do with us. Or if we make friends with that person in the office or neighborhood labeled by others as unworthy of anyone’s attention, we also will be rejected.  Unclean! 
Or if we become advocates for migrants who work hard to send money to their impoverished families, then we will be accused of being aligned with the few bad among them who have done horrible things, some will say to those who reach out to the immigrants, “Unclean!”
The message of our gospel, is that we can reach out to those who are suffering and touch them with the healing power of Jesus Christ.  Yes, by doing this we may open ourselves up to insult and attack from those around us.  But we have been empowered with the healing touch of Jesus Christ.  And that healing touch can conquer the pain around us.