Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
B 2024
INTRO: Sadness can be a difficult part of life. No one wants to be sad. They say, “one can be sad even in a crowded room”! Even in this crowded room?
THE REALITY……. There are sad people in our community.
Easy question…… Who were the two main characters in the Gospel story today?
JESUS
THE PERSON WITH LEPROSY
MOST DEFINITELY the person with leprosy was sad and lonely……
By virtue of the disease…people with leprosy were exiled and set apart from the community.
What I like about this healing was:
JESUS’S RESPONSE to a sad situation and a lonely person with leprosy.
He saw, understood, and responded with an affectionate heartfelt action. He did not leave the person with leprosy ALONE!
He is teaching me, he is teaching the church, you, and me, to respond to sad situations with what we can. We are to do what we can if we are presented with other people’s sad situations.
My priest friend works in a homeless shelter and tells me this wonderful story of compassion for sad situations that others are in.
TENNIS SHOES are an IMPORTANT thing for kids, most, especially boys.
Well… one day coming in to help at the homeless center was a mom and her 12-year-old son… The son struts in with these fantastic new, crazy looking if you ask me, expensive tennis shoes….
And as he is serving the poor their meal, he spy’s this young kid … similar in age wearing a ragged per of shoes ….
He looks down at his prized possession of tennis shoes …. And says to his mom, “Can I give that boy my tennis shoes?” …… And of course, does so.
EVEN A CHILD CAN COMPASSIONATELY respond to a sad situation.
So here we are today…. LEARNING ABOUT JESUS and how he responds to the sad situation of His day, and this is supposed to affect us INTO ACTION like Jesus did!
CONCLUSION
The liturgical season of Ordinary Time is meant to CHANGE US in words and deeds into becoming more like CHRIST ON EARTH, learning about Him from the Gospel readings each week. May all of us respond to this day with actions to assist those who are sad and lonely.