14 February 2021

The person who has the leprous disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be dishevelled; and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.
Leviticus 13: 1-2, 44-46, NRSV

This regulation on the treatment of those with leprosy may seem unkind, even barbaric to us today. However, the regulation was intended to prevent the spread of a  potentially devastating and disfiguring disease. Given the inexact nature of medical diagnosis at the time, even those with less severe skin diseases were likely to have been treated in the same way. Not only were they ritually unclean and unable to participate with their community in the practices of their religion, they were also physically isolated from the community unless or until their symptoms cleared. In today’s gospel, we hear about Jesus showing a radically new and different attitude towards a leper. Jesus still insists that the man follows the laws laid down by Moses, but first and foremost shows him compassion and understanding.

• • Why would life have been like for lepers and others with skin conditions?
  • Are there people today who are isolated from their religious communities?

Read today’s Gospel (Mark 1:40-45) and compare Jesus’ treatment of the leper to that described in Leviticus.