“Moved with pity”
What is pity? Pity, comes from the Latin word “pieta” ,which means to have compassion or to commiserate. Compassion means to literally share in the passion of another. Commiserate means to share in the misery of another. Jesus shows pity for us when He “took our infirmities and bore our diseases,” [1] on the Cross. Even though He had no sin, He shared in the misery of sin. “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” [2] We are in Christ, He is the Head; we are the Body. Both Head and Body are united in the passion and misery but also united in the victory and glory. Jesus showed pity on us, and we show pity on Him. He shared in our passion and misery, and we share in his passion and misery. This sharing, this divine exchange, happens most perfectly at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
La Pieta and "The Gift" A perfect model of pity is the pieta the famous statue by Michelangelo, there is no better example of a disciples practice of pity than that the Blessed Virgin Mary, who completely shares in the passion and misery of her Son.
Why was Jesus moved with pity? The prayer of the leper especially moves Jesus. “If you wish, you can make me clean.” The leper is an outcast and is forbidden by law to enter the town, but this does not stop his faith. There is nothing that is going to get in the way of this leper and his journey to Christ. He does not allow his social condition, embarrassment, and/or disease to keep him from Christ; instead he approaches Christ, and then knells and begs for healing. It is both his actions (knelling and begging) and his prayer, “If you wish, you can make me clean” that is a manifestation of a heart that is sincerely given to Jesus. It is this sincere and humble heart that moves Jesus.
How does prayer have to do with pity? “Prayer is the elevation of the mind and heart to God in praise of his glory, a petition made to God for some desired good or in thanksgiving for a good received or in intercession for others before God.” [3] The leper elevates his body, mind and heart to God. This elevation by the leper moves Jesus. “Jesus hears the prayer of faith, expressed in words (the leper, Jairus, the Canaanite woman, the good thief) of in silence (the bearers of the paralytic, the woman with a hemorrhage who touches his clothes, the tears and ointment of the sinful woman). The urgent request of the blind men, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David’ or ‘Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!’ has been renewed in the traditional prayer to Jesus known as the Jesus Prayer: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ Healing infirmities or forgiving sins, Jesus always responds to a prayer offered in faith: ‘Your faith has made you well; go in peace.’ ‘St. Augustine wonderfully summarizes the three dimensions of Jesus' prayer: "He prays for us as our priest, prays in us as our Head, and is prayed to by us as our God. Therefore let us acknowledge our voice in him and his in us.’” [4]
One of the first and most ancient prayers of the Church is called the Jesus Prayer, “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” The prayer can be loosely traced back to Jesus’ story of the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18:9-14. In the story the tax collector begs for pity by God saying, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” Jesus tells us by this parable that we are all not above to ask for pity and mercy from God.
CHANT – Psalm 32 Psalm 32 is prayed in Liturgy of the Hours, Week I, during Thursday Evening Prayer. Any chant tone can be used or the Psalm can be spoken. It is good to alternate stanza from side to side or male and female. This Psalm helps us to have the attitude of the leper. We know our need, we desire to be healed, and we are overjoyed with thanksgiving. You can either use the PCC or pray from Week I, Thursday, Evening Prayer in the Liturgy of Hours.
Why does the leper recognize Jesus? “The sick person is able to sense more than other people notice.” [5] When we are sick we are sensitive to everything. For example, when a person has a migraine or the flu, they are sensitive to light, or movement. Another example is when someone has a stomach virus, and recognizes what they can and cannot eat and drink. The sick very often recognize Jesus before anyone else. In Mark’s Gospel, we see that the demons and the sick are the first to recognize the Messiah. Both the demons and sick recognize His authority and power, the demons, hate it; the sick, embrace it. “Those who are well, do not need a physician, but the sick do. [6]
How can we imitate the actions of the leper? How do we recognize our sickness? Each night we examine our conscience during Night Prayer. This helps us to recognize our sin, our sickness and ask for mercy. In the Confiteor at the Mass, we imitate the prayer and action of the leper but first asking for forgiveness and mercy prior to receiving the intimacy and healing of the Eucharist. What is the last word we say together prior to receiving The Holy Eucharist? It is the word “healed”. “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” [7] When we look at the Mass parts we see a continual “begging” of mercy from the Kyrie and Confiteor, to the Our Father and Agnus Dei. to desire and then, finally, to receive healing. We first must admit that we are sick. We don’t take a well-running car to the mechanic. Those, who convince themselves that they are not sick, do not say to Christ, “You can heal me.” Those, who have ignored their conscience, do not believe they are in need of healing. As mentioned before in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, the Pharisee did not think he was sick and boasted the reason he was not sick was by his own doing “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity…” The Pharisee, along with us sometimes, put too much acclaim on ourselves, rather than seeing we still have room to grow, and ask God for forgiveness in the times we are sick due to our sins.
What does the leprosy represent? The leprosy represents our sin. “Jesus cures the physical illness, and at the same time frees from sin. In this way He shows himself to be the Messiah, whose coming had been foretold by the Prophets, who ‘has borne our infirmities’ and ‘taken our sins upon himself’ (Is 53:3-12) in order to set us free from all that subverts our spiritual and material health. For this reason a central theme of today’s liturgy is purification from sin; sin is ‘the leprosy of the soul.’” [8]
Analogy – Sickness in Body and Soul
Upon our body, we might have a cut. The cut leads to pain, and the pain tells us that we need to fix the cut. If the cut is serious, we go to a doctor. The doctor will give a diagnosis. He will make a judgment about how bad the cut is. The doctor will also suggest a treatment, prescribe medicine, and give suggestions on how to rehabilitate and restore health.
In our soul we have sin. Sin is like a cut, separating us from God. How do we recognize this sin?We need to examine our conscience. There is also an indication of sin, when we feel sorrow, contrition, guilt or restlessness about our thoughts, actions, and/or life in general. Who is the doctor of our soul? Jesus is the doctor of our soul, and the hospital or clinic is the confessional. In the confessional the priest exercises the power of Christ. “The priest exercises this power not in his own name, but in the name of Christ. He acts in persona Christi – as an instrument in his hands. ..It is Jesus, Himself, who in the Sacrament of Penance pronounces the authoritative paternal words: Your sins are forgiven.” [9] Just as the doctor makes a judgment of the severity physical ills, Christ and His Church, through the instrument of the priest, makes a judgment on the severity of sin. Sacramental Confession is the treatment that brings forgiveness. The priest then gives a penance, which is the medication and rehabilitation, and if we adhere to that it will lead to restoration of the soul.
Search: All Souls
Why did Jesus show so much interest in the sick? [10] Jesus came in order to show God’s love. He often did this in places, where we feel especially threated: in the weakening of our life through sickness. God wants us to become well in body and soul and, therefore, to believe and to acknowledge the coming of God’s Kingdom. Sometimes a person has to become sick in order to recognize what we all – healthy or sick – need more than anything else: God. We have not life, except in Him. That is why sick people and sinners can have a special instinct for the essential things. Already in the New Testament it was precisely the sick people, who sought the presence of Jesus; they tried “to touch him, for power came forth from Him and healed them all” (Lk 6:19).
In this Gospel we see the Greatest Commandment, “Love of God; love of neighbor”. The leper shows love of God, trust in the Messiah, and Jesus shows us the perfect example of love of neighbor, as he “stretched out his hand” to touch the most hideous neighbor, a neighbor that was an outcast and banned from the community. This love is put to the test each day as we encounter the outcast and the enemy.
Story – St. Francis and the leper
Saint Francis was afraid of lepers. He would do anything for God, but the idea of befriending and serving the lepers, disgusted him. His faith and charity were put to the test one day. As he was traveling horseback, and saw a leper walking up the same road. Francis’ first reaction was to high-tail it away from the person, but something made him stop, get off his horse, give the poor leper some money, hug him, and even kiss his hand. The leper likewise exchanged the same greeting. When Francis started to ride away, he turned back to give a goodbye wave, and the leper had disappeared. He knew the leper was Christ, and that He was testing Francis. This experience filled Francis with joy.
Search: St. Francis
We live is a world that would like to disregard the sick and vulnerable, euthanize the elderly, and abort the unborn with defects. The Christian life is one that is open to all; we must love all, even the outcast (the leper) even our enemies. A Christian world should look different than a pagan world. “I would prefer even the worst possible Christian world to the best pagan world, because in a Christian world there is room for those for whom no pagan world ever made room, “Cripples and sick people, the old and the weak. And there was more than room for them; there was love for those who seemed and seem useless to the pagan and the godless world.” [11] The virtue of charity and the physical and spiritual works of mercy enable us to build a Christian world in which even the most despised is loved.
[1] Matthew 8:17
[2] Romans 5:8
[3] Catechism of the Catholic Church - Glossary
[4] Catechism of the Catholic Church - 2616
[5] Reinhold Scheider (YouCat, page 140)
[6] Mark 2:17
[7] Order of Mass – Communion Rite
[8] Saint John Paul II, Homily, 17 February 1985
[9] Saint John Paul II, Homily, Rio de Janerio, 2 July 1980
[10] YouCat (Youth Catechism) question 241
[11] Heinrich Boll (YouCat, page 141)