THROUGH UNTRUE
Leprosy was once the most dreaded disease because it was perceived as a visible sign of physical, moral, and even spiritual decay. However, modern medicine has demystified the disease, providing effective treatments and debunking misconceptions about its transmission.
In today's Gospel reading, a leper knelt before Jesus and begged to be healed. Immediately Jesus touched the man and healed him (Mark 1:40-45). This must have scandalized the religious authorities because lepers were marginalized, shunned, and relegated to the fringes of society during Jesus's time. By touching and healing the leper, Jesus appeared to be violating religious purity laws and threatening to destroy long-standing social norms dictated by the Jewish society's powerful majority.
But Jesus's intention was quite different. He healed the leper to emphasize the inherent worth and dignity of every human being. At the risk of being outcast by religious authorities, He demonstrated that each of us is precious, and He was willing to go the distance just to prove it. In His eyes, one person could be the majority.
We usually understand the word "majority" in terms of numerical superiority. In democratic societies like ours, the rule of the majority is often invoked to legitimize decisions, laws, and policies. However, history has shown many instances where the majority becomes tyrannical, justifying systemic injustices through the enactment of discriminatory laws, the suppression of dissenting opinions, and the denial of basic human rights. Those who comprise the minority are thus stripped of their inherent dignity and subjected to the whims of the majority.
When we perceive that our voices hold little weight in the face of entrenched majority interests, we become disillusioned. Instead of making our voices heard, we take refuge in apathy and indifference. Jesus prioritizes the marginalized in society because He recognizes that the outcasts of society are often victims of systemic oppression, poverty, and discrimination. By giving importance to their voice and advocating for their rights and dignity, Jesus sought to teach us that in His eyes, every person counts.
It is dangerous to divide society into the majority and minority, for we cannot measure the value of truth, justice, and life in terms of "more or less." Mathematics is heartless.
During the Vietnam War, American soldiers attacked a village called My Lai, thinking that enemies were hiding there. After the confrontation, they counted the Vietnamese casualties who were mostly civilians, and labeled them as "collateral damage." For the Americans, these were simply a minority compared to the number of people they could save by winning the war.
Today, the concept that a single individual can embody the majority appears strange. However, by healing the leper, Jesus recognized him as the embodiment of the majority in society—the last, the least, the lowly, and the lost. Jesus exhibited not only a preferential option for this majority, but also a preferential reliance on them to continue His mission. Hence, today's Gospel reading ends with, "the leper went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news of his miraculous healing" (Mark 1:45).
Jesus transformed the leper from an anonymous, silenced outcast into a fearless herald of God's goodness. He became a compelling proof that ONE person, empowered by God with courage and conviction, has the potential to embody the essence of a true, good, and just majority.