REFLECTIONS ON THE HEALING OF A LEPER (Mk 1: 40-45) XVIII
Surely at this point in the week, those who have been following us in these reflections will have an idea of what "composition of place" means. As though it were a theatrical performance, we must prepare the stage on which we will contemplate the encounter between Jesus and the leper.
However, this understanding of "composition of place", as we have explained so far, is still very superficial, very poor, and very insufficient. If we stopped here, it would be no more than a kind of “movie” that we view as mere spectators, when in reality, the Holy Spirit invites us to get inside the gospel pages. In Spanish we have the expression, “to see the bulls from the barrier” - the expression obviously refers to bullfighting - but we cannot see the bulls from the barrier. God does not invite us to simply see the scene from the seats of the bullring. He invites us, by the action of grace, to jump into the arena with the bull and the bullfighter. That is, we must enter the story and live it in the first person, not in the third person. Everything changes when you realize that you are risking your life. Suddenly, our entire inner world is focused on what we have before our eyes. This is serious business. It really is a matter of life and death.
How can we live the gospel stories in the first person? The easiest way is to imagine that we are one of the characters in the story. In this, St. Ignatius is amazing. In his Spiritual Exercises, he speaks with words charged with simplicity and depth at the same time. We will take as an example his observations on the journey of the Holy Family from Nazareth to Bethlehem and on the birth of the Lord. First, St. Ignatius speaks of the composition of place as we have tried to describe it, in these terms:
"Composition, seeing the place. It will be here to see with the sight of the imagination the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem; considering the length and the breadth, and whether such road is level or through valleys or over hills; likewise looking at the place or cave of the Nativity, how large, how small, how low, how high, and how it was prepared.”
Do you see that St. Ignatius invites us to internally represent the scene, looking at the details of the path, the Bethlehem cave, the valleys, the slopes? It is a contemplation that has all its strength in gospel simplicity. Now, one more step must be taken, that of entering the scene that we mentioned before and, therefore, St. Ignatius continues:
“The first point is to see the persons; that is, to see Our Lady and Joseph and the maid, and, after His Birth, the Child Jesus, I making myself a poor creature and a wretch of an unworthy slave, looking at them and serving them in their needs, with all possible respect and reverence, as if I found myself present; and then to reflect on myself in order to draw some profit.”
How beautiful! Once we have the stage prepared, St. Ignatius invites us to enter. In this case, he invites us to be "a poor and unworthy slave" who looks at, contemplates and serves the Holy Family in its needs. And he says: "as if I found myself present." You see? You cannot be a simple spectator: you must dive into the Gospel, like a child. With no other claim than to see and serve Jesus.
Do we do this every time we take up the Gospels in our prayer? Is it not true that we read without almost any preparation, without much reverence before the Majesty of God? Why did the saints read Sacred Scripture and come out of that encounter with the Lord transformed? Because they read Scripture with passion, with devotion, with the feeling that their lives were at stake, with generosity and simplicity, like children who know that nothing it is impossible for God. (Lk 1:37)
This weekend, I invite you to do this exercise with the story of the healing of the leper. Before we discuss it together, I invite you to read it at home, and after the composition of the initial place - imagining the physical environment from the scene - jump into the narrative. For example, imagine that you are a friend of this leper and you camouflage him so that he can get to see Jesus. You have heard that the Miracle Maker has left Capernaum and you want to help the one you love. Imagine the conversation with your leper companion, imagine walking towards Jesus, the first time you see him in the distance, how you encourage your friend to run faster to reach the Lord. Imagine the feelings of hope, or of compassion, or of excitement, that gather in your heart as you hurry toward the Lord.
Spend some time resting there, and you will see that a new world is revealed to you: the world of contemplative prayer, of the Person of Christ, and of his healing power.