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by Rev. Fr. V.V. Paulose, Toronto, Canada
"One day the girl said to her mistress, "I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy." (2 Kings 5:3)
There is no sickness that Jesus can't heal!
Sickness is okay in the body but the abandonment is unbearable and it is killing
the body and the soul. Once upon a time, lepers were like that. Leprosy was
known as 'death before death' and now it is known as Hansen’s disease. Although
drug treatment is now effective, the stigma remains. And even today, they are
separated from the main stream. There are millions who are under stigmatised
sickness and abandoned with no care in no man's land. The simple act of love in
action for the sick, a kind word, a hospital, a doctor, transportation, a
prayer, a mere presence or an advice/sense of direction will have a profound
effect on the lives of the sick. We should hear the call within and volunteer in
accordance with it.
Fr. Damian, a young handsome man with dark eyes and penetrating eyes went to
Molokai Island to serve and live with the lepers, and died there as a leper. He
volunteered to serve at the Leper Colony. Till his death he was with them. First
he created a cemetery. Before his arrival, those who died on the island were
buried in shallow graves and left to be eaten by the creatures that roamed the
island. He built shelters and streamlined the water supply system. He
continually had to deal with the Hawaiian Board of Health, usually ending up
frustrated at its bureaucracy. He also founded 2 orphanages for the colony. He
considered himself as one of them and would not succumb to any fears of contact
with the lepers. Then in 1884, he contracted leprosy himself. He continued
working until just a month before his death.
"Can there be worse sickness, than to know that we are never well, nor can be
so?" - Quote by John Donne. "And his sickness became so healthy as the skin of a
young child’s, and he was healed" (2 Kings 5:14).
Jesus, heal the sick who come to you. Let us accept whatever treatment you direct for our sickness. Let us be the volunteers for those with stigmatized diseases. We pray for those who are in the most challenging fields of healing ministry like Fr. Damien in the leper colony in Molokai. We pray for the good saintly soul of Fr. Damien to intercede for the sick. We remember the servant girl who had directed the leper to the prophet for healing. All we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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