“Jesus, Master!’ Have pity on us!”
Jesus said, “They that are whole, need not the physician, but they that are sick.”[i] We can fear healing and so cling to our sickness and avoid the remedy. “It is surely a desperately sick person who scorns doctors and remedies and clings to his infirmities.”[ii] “From ancient times leprosy has been considered the most fitting figure to represent the hideousness of sin, and indeed it would be difficult to picture anything more horrible and repulsive. Yet, while everybody has such a great dread of leprosy of the body, how indifferent and easy-going even Christians are in regard to leprosy of the soul.”[iii]
In the movie "Kingdom of Heaven" there are two characters are playing a game of chess when one charater, the masked man says to his opponent, “your soul is in your keeping alone...when you stand before God you cannot say: but I was told by others to do thus, or that virtue was not convenient? at the time; this will not suffice. Remember that.”
King Baldwin IV, a Catholic and King of Jerusalem, was king from 1174 to 1185. He was a leper. Baldwin knew because of his leprosy, he would not live long. He also had to cover himself at all times, to cover up the sores of the disease. If others saw the sores, they would not want to get close, they also would see how weak he was and would perhaps lose respect for the king.
How does sin (spiritual leprosy) affect us in the same way as physical leprosy? How do we sometimes deal with sin, the way that physical leprosy is dealt with?
What are the stages are the steps to get rid of sin? What is the remedy or the cure?[iv]
Sincere humility – Recognize the misery of sin. Recognize that we are sinners and susceptible to sin. What are some reasons why we lose humility and begin to think that sin is commonplace and normal?
Confident Recourse to God – Do we turn to God for forgiveness, especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Is this Sacrament of healing and grace a part of our life?
Have faith in the words and works of God’s ministers – God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; Through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.[v] Do we believe these words, that all our sins are absolved, completely gone through Confession? Satan would like for us to walk away from the Confessional still with shame and in doubt of God’s forgiveness, but we can rest assured that the power to forgive sins that Christ gave to His apostles is real.
Return to our Lord and thank Him with gratitude – Are we thankful for such a gift, God’s mercy and forgiveness, do we return to Him in prayer, in Mass? Do we return to Him in the Sacrament of Confession to once again show Him that we are thankful and trust Him?
[i] Luke 5:31
[ii] Saint John Vianney
[iii] Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D; Divine Intimacy, page 838
[iv] Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D; Divine Intimacy, page 839
[v] Prayer of Absolution; Rite of Confession