Sixth Sunday of the year

We meet many people in the course of our life. Most of such meetings are soon forgotten, others we remember for a while, like birthdays and anniversaries, but still others remain so impressed in our hearts that we go on remembering them, sometimes even daily.

Such was the meeting of a poor leper with Jesus about which we read in today's Gospel. The faith which this leper had in Jesus was so deep and sincere that all he had to do when he saw him passing by was to throw himself at his feet and say: "If you wish, you can cure me!" And Jesus, seeing such faith and humility, just touched the leper and the leprosy all at once left him.

A similar event, in reality, takes place each time we receive a sacrament. The Catholic Church teaches that there are seven sacraments, all of them directly or indirectly insituted by Christ. In theology and in the teaching of Catechism we usually speak about the 'matter' and the 'form' of each sacrament, and we also add that the sacraments produce grace by their own efficacy depending on the particular need of the person receiving them.

Although all this is still quite correct, Vatican II has penetrated into the very essence of the sacraments and has defined the sacraments as "meetings with Christ". When such meetings take place with the right disposition and a deep faith similar to the leper's in today's Gospel, they produce the desired effect. If a person really meets Christ, such a meeting is bound not only to leave a lasting impression, but also to produce a real change in him.

Thanks to the sacraments, we have the opportunity of meeting Jesus personally on different occasions and at different stages in our life. At each of these stages we are confronted with specific obstacles and stand to benefit from a 'special' meeting with Christ in the sacraments.

Thus at the very beginning of life, generally shortly after birth, the baby is taken to church where he can meet Christ for the first time, be 'born again' through sanctifying grace and become a member of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ.

When the child begins to grow and to have some understanding of the Christian faith, he again meets the Lord and receives him in Holy Communion. This is followed by the sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance, where the Christian meets Christ whenever, like the leper in today's Gospel, he will need to be 'cured' from his sins.

As a teenager, at the age of puberty (usually at 14 or 15), he or she begins to mature, to face new challenges and eventually to take important decisions affecting the rest of his life; hence he is invited to another imporant meeting with Christ in the sacrament of Confirmation, when he in full knowledge 'confirms' his allegiance to Christ.

Next come the two sacraments in which the Christian is invited to meet the Lord and ask for help at the beginning and during his new state in life, namely Matrimony and Holy Orders. The Christian is finally invited to meet Christ at the most important moment of all, when he is seriously ill and needs a special supply of divine help: and that is the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, often inappropriately referred to as Extreme Unction.

If, like the leper in today's Gospel, we approach the sacraments with faith, as the leper did when he met Christ passing by, our Christian life will become not only more meaningful, but also more fruitful.