We should have the same concern for outcasts today as Jesus did

Until recently, leprosy has been considered an incurable disease. The only treatment was to isolate the sufferer to protect the community. This procedure brought relief to the people, but was a double blow to the victims. Not only did they have a disease, but they were isolated from their family and friends. They had lost their right to live a decent human life with their family and community. They were outcasts.

Leprosy has been feared and misunderstood. People have treated it as a hereditary disease, a curse or punishment from the gods. During the Middle Ages, those with leprosy were forced to wear special clothing and ring bells to warn others of their presence.

In 1894 Louisiana established the Louisiana Leper Home in Carville. Patients, doctors and nurses lived, worked and made medical history as they promoted understanding, identification and treatment of leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease.

Many patients entered the gates under mandatory quarantine and never left the hospital again.

In 1921, the U.S. Public Health Service took over the governance of the Carville facility and established the nation’s first leprosarium. Scientists developed the first successful multi-drug treatment regimen for leprosy through drug trials in Malta in the 1970s. In 1986, the Carville facility became known Gillis W. Long Hansen’s Disease Center, named after the Louisiana representative.

The U.S. Congress passed a bill to move the Gillis W. Long Hansen’s Disease Center to Baton Rouge and, as of 1999, the National Hansen’s Disease Programs continues its clinical care and research for Hansen’s disease in Baton Rouge. When the Carville facility closed in 1998, its few remaining patients were reluctant to leave since this was the only life they knew.

Years ago, one of my parishioners contracted Hansen’s Disease. I anointed him and prayed for his healing. He went to Carville and was treated by the doctors as an outpatient. They cured him and he never had any more problems.

The man was about 60 years old. He had grown children and many grandchildren. He asked me not to tell any of his family about his having this disease. In his words, “I don’t want to burden them.” The stigma of the disease is still with us.

When Jesus dealt with a person with leprosy, he usually touched the person as part of the healing process. He wanted the person to feel they were loved, and part of a loving community. Jesus wanted to include people, especially those who had suffered from isolation and loneliness.

In the Jewish communities, the priests were the gatekeepers for a person with leprosy to return to family and the community. So Jesus always told the cured person to “show yourself to the priest.” The priest would give him a clean bill of health to return home.

Who are the outcasts in our society? Refugees from famine, war, and civil strife; the poor and the sick, the addicted, the mentally ill. The list is long, and the problems are very real.

In all our dealings with outcasts our first problem is usually fear – fear of what damage they might do to us, simply by human contact. Fear of one another is what drives nations to war.

The outcasts are looking for someone to touch them, someone to give him a sign of better things. When the leper in Mark’s gospel approached Jesus, he already knew that Jesus was on his side. It gave him hope and boldness to ask, “If you choose, you can make me clean.”

Jesus’ response is full of acceptance and encouragement. “Of course, I want to cure you. Be cured.” Then, he touched him. Can we bring that same type of inclusive healing to the outcasts of our day?