Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” Saint Paul’s words carry a double command. One is to shape your life around Christ. The other is to be an example for others.

It’s worth noting: We’ve spent five weeks already in chapter one of Mark’s gospel. So far, Jesus cast out a man’s demon, healed a woman’s fever, and then took on a whole village’s suffering. Now Jesus is confronted by a leper, or at least a man who endures an ailment disfiguring enough to make people afraid of catching what he’s got. This fellow suffers in two directions: physically and also socially. Science tells us that skin is the largest organ of the body. It’s also the only organ people can see. So unlike a heart condition or stomach ailment, when your skin is sick, it’s pretty obvious.

A leper came to him, begging on his knees, “If you want to, you can cleanse me.”

THE phenomenon of washing one’s hands in an attempt to clear a guilty conscience is known in psychological circles as the Lady Macbeth Effect, named after the Shakespearean queen who tries desperately to scrub off the imagined stain of blood she has on her hands for the murder she incited her husband to commit.

God of compassion, you show us mercy at all times. With trust in your kindness and forgiveness, we make these prayers through Christ our Lord.

In the biblical world sin and suffering were mixed together. Ostracism was the religious response to the marks of sin. Jesus brought forgiveness by making the sin, not the person, go away.

Jesus confirms and corroborates what the leper had said and . . . does not merely answer, “Be made clean.” . . . He verifies the truth glimpsed by the man . . . . —Saint John Chrysostom (347-407 C.E.)