In the midst of the harsh cold winter temperatures and snow that we are having comes the Church season of Lent, which began this past Wednesday. The word “Lent” comes from an old English word for the temporal season of “spring”. Springtime is a time when Mother Nature wakes up and bursts into bloom. The inner life of the earth, the trees, the grass, and the flowers, which enter into a state of dormancy in the winter, finally wake up, rise, and burst forth to yield new life. Seeds that were once buried no longer remain seeds; they have died, undergone a process of transformation, and become bounteous flowers, fruit, or vegetation, blessing the earth. Lent is the time when we prepare our human nature for a similar experience, but on the level of our humanity. It is a time for our hearts to experience new life- the life that comes from a strengthened relationship with Jesus Christ. Forty days of Lent are set before us. The scriptures today tell of two different stories that lasted for 40 days- the rains that fell for 40 days while Noah was in his ark and Jesus’ 40-day retreat into the desert, where he was tempted. In Noah’s case, this passage of time prepares the earth for a second springtime whereby God creates an everlasting covenant with man and seals it with the special sign of a rainbow. Jesus’ time in the desert presents him as a “new Adam”, showing us how to be human, by not giving into temptation to sin or being coopted or consumed by the wild beasts around him.

Skin diseases, like leprosy were very common and contagious in biblical times and sometimes fatal. This led to the instruction in today’s first reading from the Book of Leviticus: “The person who bears the sore of leprosy shall keep his garments rent and his head bare and shall cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ As long as the sore is on him he shall declare himself unclean… He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp”(Lev 13:45-46). This is the situation of the leper who Jesus encounters in today’s gospel. The most beautiful part of this story is not that Jesus cured the man of his leprosy, but that he healed the Leper’s spirit when He, “stretched out his hand and touched him”. Human touch is at the heart of this story.