The Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Today, Cardinal Joseph Zen visited our parish in his pastoral tour before retirement. He celebrated the 11 a.m. mass and commissioned new members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of our parish. The Society was established in 1833 by Frederic Ozanam (1813-1853) who was beatified by the late Pope John Paul II in 1997. The aim of the Society is the service of God in the persons of the poor. St. Vincent de Paul (1580-1660) was chosen as their patron saint because he championed the cause of the poor. Indeed, this should be the option of all Christians for all ages. The Society gained international footing and there is a branch in Hong Kong. Today, we had Society members joining us in the mass.
It was an appropriate occasion because in the gospel reading today, we read the story of Jesus healing a leper (Mark 1:40-45). Leprosy is a disfiguring disease. The fungus eats away the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes. Noses and fingers fall off. Lepers were forced to live away in colonies. In Hong Kong, they were treated in Hei Ling Chau. In Macau, the St. Lazarus Macau Church was built for lepers to worship God in 1557. In 1947, the leper colony was moved to Coloane. Nowadays, we seldom meet lepers. We have AIDS patients instead.
Cardinal Zen shared his impressions of the work for the lepers in Macau more than 50 years ago. Together with more able-bodied lepers, a missionary priest transformed the leper colony into a decent community. They had a tiny electricity generator which was able to supply spare power to the surrounding villages. Lepers, whether they were believers or not, prayed in the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows. This was Jesus at work, though his mission was to proclaim the good news, the reconciliation between God and sinners, the coming of the Kingdom of God.
The story of the leper is instructive. A leper, a symbol of public sinners, recognized his own plights. He humbly knelt before Jesus to beg for restoration.
And a leper came to him beseeching him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean." (Mark 1:40)
We cannot force the hand of God. If a man can manipulate God, as the Chinese often do, God is no God. Even if we have a noble cause to fight for, we should not force the hand of God to do us favours. We can only put our good cause in front of God and seek His support. God is free to refuse.
Jesus could have refused the leper for a host of good reasons. Indeed, healing and teaching the leper brought Jesus obstacles so that he could not enter the towns openly.
But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter (Mark 1:45).
Jesus was filled with compassion for the plight of this leper. He wanted to heal the leper.
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I will; be clean." (Mark 1:41)
When God is willing to support our fight, He will. But Jesus did not cure all lepers. Once, he told us
For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them; but you will not always have me (Mark 14:7).
Jesus gave us a chance to continue his work of charity.
According to the Torah, Jesus was not allowed to touch the leper because leprosy was an unclean disease. Touching a leper would contaminate Jesus. Would he be?
Many biblical scholars suggest that before the moment Jesus touched the leper, Jesus' power had already made the leper clean. Therefore, Jesus had not disobeyed the Torah. In fact, he instructed the leper to follow all the rituals to show that his leprosy had been healed. Jesus was law-abiding. He even told the others to do so.
Then the Cardinal switched the topic to chastity. He condemned pornography and sexual immorality as a kind of leprosy. They made a person unclean, thus isolating him/her from the others. Sexual desires are very powerful. People easily get addicted in indulgence. However, not only does addiction enslave a person, but such indulgence would also deprive a person of ideals. A person indulged in immediate gratifications can never live up to ideals. A person without ideals leads an aimless life, wasting his energies and his time. All Christians should lead a life of holiness and chastity.

Dear Lord, I thank You for allowing us to celebrate Your compassion. May You instill in us high ideals in life so that we may live up to the potentials You have granted us. Amen.