Naaman – Holy Cross Episcopal Church

2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c

Luke 17:11-19

Friday afternoon we had a training session for our two new young acolytes, Alex Goulet and Anna Ishak, and Alex cracked one of the pillar candles at the altar. It was loose on its holder and he tipped it too far and it fell on the floor. Now what does that have to do with the readings for today? Everything.

You see, the readings are linked by the fact that each has to do with leprosy. Leprosy is mentioned again and again in the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments. Itâ€™s not to be confused with Hansenâ€™s disease, which is the name for a medical condition, a bacterial infection now readily treated with antibiotics, that causes blotchy skin and disfigurement. In biblical times leprosy covered a wide range of ailments that had in common symtoms that made the skin discolored, scarred or imperfect. Biblical people thought that these imperfections were connected to moral imperfections. So people with â€œleprosyâ€ were unfit to worship God and unfit for human society. They were outcasts.

2 Kings 5:1-14Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

1 Corinthians 9:24-27Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Mark 1:40-45

I donâ€™t know how many of you glance at the little biographies of the weekâ€™s saints that we run in the bulletins each Sunday. Someone said to me that the saints didnâ€™t â€œdo anythingâ€ for him. I guess they â€œdoâ€ a lot for me. They remind me of the struggles that others have faced to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of the fact that you and I stand on the shoulders of generations of giants who have gone before us. As the Letter to the Hebrews says, â€œwe are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [that we can] run with endurance the race set before us.â€