Scripture Reflections for Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

"Most of us live somewhere in-between. The in-between can be a place of hope, where we are held in the promises of Jesus Christ, or a place of despair, where we neither belong nor are strangers. There is the despair of night where we are plunged into darkness, but there is also the despair that hovers somewhere just out of sight, forming the frame which encloses our lives."

Fr. David Goodill. "Jesus Stretched Out His Hand." Torch. February 12, 2012

"On the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is Michelangelo's famous painting of the creation of Adam, in which the outstretched hand of God the Creator almost, but not quite, touches the outstretched hand of Adam. Within that tiny gap between the two fingers is found - so we can imagine - the entire energy of creation, as the One-who-is reaches out to the one-who-is-not so that he might come to be. God said 'let there..."

Fr. Vivian Boland. "Reaching Out." Torch. February 15, 2009

"Here in the Caribbean the concept of the “gated community” is becoming prevalent, with those with the means moving into these communities. By living in this way, they are either secluding themselves from the rest of the society or keeping the rest of the society out. This kind of living arrangement brings about the kind of exclusiveness which highlights the fact that there are those in the society with the means and those who lack..."

Fr. Charles Dominique. "Back into the Camp." Torch. February 12, 2006

"Mark gives us two signs in today's Gospel. Each sign tells us something about Jesus and his mission. The first is the healing of a leper. The second is the effect that healing has on the course of Jesus' mission. Leprosy was a serious affliction. It afflicted not only the leper but also his community with fear. The Book of Leviticus tells us that: He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease;..."

Fr. Simon Gaine. "Outside the Camp." Torch. February 16, 2003

"As you all know from your close reading of the book of Leviticus, there are three things that can get leprosy: people, tents and clothing. This is because they all have skin, and indeed, the word often translated as leprosy actually covers skin diseases and blemishes in general: ‘a swelling or scab or shiny spot’ (Lev 13:1). The integrity or wholeness of skin is important for Israel not just for hygiene and health but for..."

Bruno Clifton. "Crossing the Boundary." Torch. February 9, 2021

"Why does the healed leper ignore Jesus’s injunction to say nothing to anyone but talks so freely that Jesus retreats into the wilds to get away from people — in vain, of course? Lepers had to keep their distance, in New Testament times, as indeed in many parts of the world they still have to, in isolation hospitals nowadays if they are lucky, rather than in the circumstances so vividly prescribed in our first reading..."

Fr. Fergus Kerr. "Hidden Identity." Torch. February 7, 2018

"There is a story, it may be apocryphal, about an upper class lady in Oxford who attended mass soon after the new ruling about the kiss of peace was introduced after Vatican II. When someone turned to her to shake her hand she withdrew rather affronted and said ‘I do not believe we have been introduced.’ Crossing social barriers can be dangerous. We see this today in the Gospel when Jesus meets a leper. Leviticus..."

Fr. David Sanders. "The Church's Healing Touch." Torch. February 10, 2015

"The years 2010 and 2011 are among the important moments in the chronicle of my vocational journey and testimony. They were years in which I had a concrete and direct experience of persons who were dangling between life and death, even though the weight of death was more. As part of my formation in the religious life, I, together with some of my confreres used to have weekly (saturday) visits to the then cancer patients..."

Father Lawrence Obilor. "The ‘I Will’ Formula of Jesus’ Healing." A Catholic Moment.