REFLECTIONS ON THE HEALING OF A LEPER (Mk 1: 40-45) XIV
We have been preparing to begin reading the account of the healing of the leper that we find in the first chapter of St. Mark. I want to think that there is a message here for us in the unusual circumstances in which we find ourselves today. So what we are doing in these difficult days in which the People of God are not allowed to access the Sacraments, especially Holy Communion; days in which decisions are being made throughout the world that are affecting the lives of millions of people based on moral criteria that we wish to examine in the light of the Gospel, is seeking direction for our lives in the Person of Jesus Christ, in his life, in His word, and particularly in this episode of miraculous healing.
As many of you know, in his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola presents us with a wonderful model for contemplating the mysteries of the life of Christ. Speaking of this work, St. Francis de Sales went on to say that this book "had taken more souls to heaven than it contains letters." Indeed, it has been the forge of hundreds of children of the Church who, in them, have found light, strength, sincere conversion, and holiness. All this because, through them, they have found Christ and in Him, they have discovered themselves.
Many do not know it, but Pope Pius XI wrote in 1929 an Encyclical Letter, entitled Mens Nostra, recommending to the whole Church the practice of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. In that document, among other things, the Holy Father writes:
“Among all the methods of Spiritual Exercises which very laudably adhere to the principles of sound Catholic asceticism one has ever held the foremost place (…) We mean the method introduced by St. Ignatius of Loyola, whom we are pleased to call the chief and unique Master of Spiritual Exercises whose "admirable book of exercises" stood forth and conspicuous as a most wise and universal code of laws for the direction of souls in the way of salvation and perfection; an unexhausted fountain of most excellent and most solid piety; as a most keen stimulus, and a well instructed guide showing the way to secure the amendment of morals and attain the summit of the spiritual life.”
Here, we can only scratch the surface of what St. Ignatius proposes, but it is important for the consideration of the healing of the leper in question, to say a word about what in the Spiritual Exercises is called "composition of place".
When we meditate on the life of Jesus, St. Ignatius asks us for an initial effort to carry out this exercise of "composition of place”. We could say that this composition of place is an imaginative representation of the evangelical scene that, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, we are preparing to meditate on. However, this is only the first step of a path that will take us further, deeper, in our contemplation of the Person of Jesus.
Tomorrow we will see how we can create a “composition of place” that helps us assimilate the life of Christ and the episode of the healing of the leper in a way that is beneficial for our souls. Everything we say will be useful for those who hear or read these words not only at this time but also in the future, whenever they open the Gospels, to consider any other mystery of the life of Jesus.
