Remember the marvels the Lord has done.-- Psalm 105:5
Mass readings: Genesis 44:18-21,23-29;45:1-5 / Matthew 10:7-15
In today's Gospel, Jesus instructs the apostles to cure the sick, and then He singles out victims of a particular condition, leprosy. Why? Perhaps because of the stigma associated with this malady and because of the isolation and rejection these people suffered, along with the physical pain of the disease. Clearly, they needed extra attention.
In the 1890s, Jesus' call to ''cleanse lepers'' was heeded yet again, this time by the Daughters of Charity, an order of nuns that volunteered to serve at the nation's only leprosarium in Carville, La. For 100 years they assisted victims of Hanson's Disease, doing a job most people shunned. Today, the hospital has only a small medical staff and fewer than 20 remaining residents, encouraging signs of progress toward eradicating a disease Jesus addressed 2,000 years ago!
Prayer: Divine Physician, inspire advanced countries to reach out to developing nations still threatened by leprosy.