Parish Priest's Corner

My dear friends in Christ, 

Both the first reading and the Gospel contain miraculous cures from leprosy. But to what extent were the individuals involved healed, especially the ten lepers in the Gospel? Leprosy is an illness that isolates, forcing the afflicted to keep family, friends, and strangers at a distance. It ravages the body and the spirit. Through his compassionate heart, Jesus realizes the devastation this illness brings. He sees what lepers desire within. For apart from being made physically clean, lepers yearn to reenter society not as outcasts, but able to feel the touch of another, where loving another is a sacred and uplifting occurrence. 

Jesus was fully aware of lepers’ daily pain and sufferings from their sores, but also understood their pain and hunger for a normal family and a loving home. He sees how the disease imprisons human beings and restrains them with unfulfilled dreams and dashed hopes. Leprosy chains the afflicted to suffer inside, as their physical condition and circumstances of their lives prevent the forces that can allow the free flow of love to their hearts. 

Jesus had pity for them, a pity that understood the stigma of being an outcast and all that it meant. He knew how much better any outcasts could be when connected to others. He realized that if they could share their everyday stories with others around them, joy would lift their pain as they walked the path of life.  

Jesus saw the times they kept silent because they were afraid of what others might say. He saw all the leprosy spots that they and others carried, and he still sees them today. Jesus wants to remove all these leprosy moments that enshroud his people. He wants to set us free. 

Each one of us has leprosy spots and moments, some of which cause us pain and make us suffer inside. Bring them to Jesus. He does not want you to stand at a distance but to come close to him. He wants to touch, heal, and make each of us whole with his Body and Blood. As you receive the gift of healing from Christ, let your prayer be that of gratitude. 

I pray that your hearts and souls experience the healing touch of Christ. 

Appreciation

I would like to thank the Altar Society and an anonymous parishioner for helping our parish with the purchase of two new serving chalices. These new chalices will replace the old ones we have been using which, as some of our sacristans and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion attested, have seen their better days. I was going to refurbish the old chalices but learned from my research that purchasing new ones would be less expensive. Our gratitude goes out to our generous donors. God bless you. 

Fr. Anthony Ahamefule
Parish Priest