Are you afraid of the stick ?

Friday May 21, 2021

Are you afraid of the sick ?

"While Jesus was in one of the cities, a man covered with leprosy saw him, fell with his face to the ground and addressed this prayer to him : Lord, if you want, you can make me clean." Luke 5:12

The disease in itself is a terrible problem to overcome, but beyond that this man lived like a wild beast outside the city. He cried out to those who approached him : "Impure ! Impure !" (Leviticus 13:45). At that time, leprosy was a social and psychological problem of extreme importance.

Sick people generally need comfort in our society where everything is based on appearance. In the mid-1980s, when I was a teenager, AIDS exploded with thousands of victims among hemophiliacs, libertines, homosexuals and drug addicts.

"And you my friends, how do you act in front of the sick of this world ?"

One day, when I passed a friend, in a very ordinary way, I gave her a kiss as a greeting. Following this meeting, the person accompanying me said to me : "Go quickly wash your cheeks with bleach because this girl has AIDS !" Rest assured, I did nothing but I understood that certain diseases bring rejection from society.

Fortunately, the leper came across Jesus, the life-changing one. Her attitude of faith, humble and reverent enabled her to be touched by Jesus in order to experience healing.

And you my friends, how do you act in front of the sick of this world ? Do you stand ten meters from them or do you, like Jesus, put your hand on their shoulder ?

A prayer for today

Lord, lead me to those who suffer, those who are despised by society, so that I can touch them as you did with this leper. Give me your heart for the afflicted.

Patrice Martorano

Source (The Thought of the Day)