Today’s readings speak about being made whole again. In Jesus’ time, leprosy wasn’t just the disease that we’re familiar with today. The term included any sort of blemish of the skin, and it was believed that such blemishes made a person “unclean” or less whole…and, by extension, the entire community became imperfect. The Hebrew concept was that any person who was physically or spiritually impaired could not join the assembly in worship because their impurity could taint the community’s relation with God. Thus, the unclean person was ostracized for both the physical and the spiritual health of the community. This is what we hear in the first reading. In the Gospel passage, we read about Jesus’ healing of the leper, a story that we’re all familiar with. This person has been on the “outside” of society, away from his family, his worship, and his friends. He’s asking Jesus to not only restore his health but also to give him his life back. Of course, Jesus does this for him. Consider sin as “spiritual leprosy.” When we sin, we willingly separate ourselves both from God and from others. We do to ourselves what the Jewish community did to lepers in Jesus’ day. Just as Jesus did for the leper, He’s willing to restore us…all we need to do is ask sincerely. Lent will be upon us in just a few days; this is our time to repent of our sins and ask God’s pardon. May we all take advantage of the forgiveness and restoration that God is waiting to give us.