A Homily on the 20th Whitsunday on the Healing of Ten Lepers

Abstract

In today's Gospel reading, dear Fathers, Brothers and Sisters, the healing of ten lepers by our Lord Jesus Christ is recounted. In ancient times, leprosy was one of the most terrible diseases: it destroyed the human body, so that there was not a single healthy spot left. This disease was considered almost incurable: the continuous pustules were accompanied by an intolerable smell and the body of the suffering person was covered with scabs, as if scales and deep ulcers. In the words of the prophet Jeremiah, the sufferer had no healthy place from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head: sores, stains, festering wounds, not cleansed and untied and not softened with oil.