Column: Lent and Lepers

Greetings in Christ on the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. In 2007 I had the privilege of attending a national youth ministry conference in Atlanta along with thousands of other youth ministers from across the United States. On the second evening of the conference, participants gathered in the main meeting hall to hear a presentation by the keynote speaker. I will never forget when the presenter stood up, went to the podium, opened his Bible, and began reading St. Matthew's version of the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7). There was no commentary or interpretation, just a straightforward reading of the text. After he stepped away from the podium, a strange, almost awkward silence came over the conference hall. The power of the greatest teaching ever given weighed heavily on my heart and it felt like I had heard Jesus' words of radical discipleship for the very first time.
 
After a few minutes people began slipping away in different directions. I was with two other youth ministers, one of them being our very own John O'Sullivan. As we headed back to our hotel, the words of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount were about to play out in real life. Sitting on the outside steps of the conference center was a man who looked like he was living on the streets. Everyone was walking by, and no one seemed to take notice of him even though we had all just heard Jesus' command to "be salt and light." The three of us stopped and asked the man if he was alright. A conversation started up as he began to tell us about his life, which was filled with much brokenness and addiction. Then he began to tell us about his battle with AIDS. It was at this point that the Holy Spirit made His presence known in a profound way by giving us His words to say. We shared the love and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ as the four of us held hands and prayed together. As we were departing, he asked if we had a Bible to give him. We didn't have one with us at that moment but promised to give him one if we crossed paths again.
 
On the last day of the conference, as we were heading back to our hotel, we once again ran into the same homeless man. He recognized us and asked for the Bible we promised to give him. Matt, the other youth minister in our group, ran up to his room quickly and came back down with the Bible. On the corner across from the hotel we handed him the Bible and said our goodbyes. We quickly crossed the street when the light changed and turned back to see that the sickly homeless man was nowhere to be found -- he was simply gone. We immediately crossed back over to where we were standing just a moment ago and looked at each other in utter amazement. We were perplexed as to where the man could have gone. We wondered aloud about the words of Hebrews 13:2 "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it."

I have no way of proving that what we experienced in Atlanta in 2007 was an angelic encounter, although we know from the scriptures that it can happen. It was, however, a deeply personal "God moment" in my life, one that I could have easily missed. Because of this encounter I became more aware of the dignity of every person and that we are all invited to encounter Christ in the "lepers" of our society. 

Our Gospel today tells the story of Christ's encounter with a leper who "kneeling down begged him and said, "ff you wish,you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, "I do will it. Be made clean." The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean." (Mk. l:40-42) We are just a few days away from Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent. May we open our hearts to the "lepers" Christ places in our path -- the poor, the broken, the homeless, the ill, the lonely, the addicted, the imprisoned, the hungry, and the thirsty.