SKIN

INTRODUCTION

The title of my reflections for this 28 Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C -  is “Skin.”

When I read today’s readings, the obvious thought that jumped out of today’s first reading and today’s gospel is skin - leprosy - uh oh.

What are your thoughts about skin - your skin - other’s skin?

It’s what we see - first thing - when we see each other. Skin look…. Skin color …. The wrapping - the cover of the book called me …. the largest organ in the body - around 8 pounds more or less - some 20 to 22 square feet - or what have you.

Our skin, It protects us - covers us - waterproofs us. It’s us - warts and all - tattoos and scars - covering the me that’s me.

Skin - skinny me or bigger me.

TODAY’S READINGS

We’re moving along this year - year C - with the gospel of Luke.

Today we come to the story of the ten people Jesus cleansed of leprosy. We have the same story at Thanksgiving - and the theme is making sure we say, “Thanks!”

Notice when I read the gospel I didn’t use the L word. There have been statements from the United Nations for more than 50 years at least - not to use the word L word - but to say leprosy or skin disease.

Jesus says, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”

The Biblical commentaries like to point out that Hansen’s disease - having the kind of leprosy we have in modern times - is probably not what the people - labeled with leprosy in the Bible - had. In Biblical times any kind of skin disease was called leprosy.

So to match the Gospel - those who put together our readings for this Mass - matched it with a story from 2 Kings 5:14-17 - the story of Naaman of Syrian - who is healed of his skin diseases by the Hebrew God. The last line in today’s first reading states, “His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean of his leprosy.”

I noticed that the English translators of the Bible do not use the word “skin” but rather the word “flesh”.

So with these readings  in mind, I began thinking about skin as a theme for today’s homily. Skin….

FIRST EXERCISE: TAKE A LOOK

Take a moment and look at your hands - back and front.

Look at them, rub them.

Looking at the palms of your hands, see the lines. Be a palm reader - of your palms. See how your skin accordions - when you bend your fingers inwardly - but differently at the different phalanxes - 3 on each finger - 2 on the thumb. Turn to the back of your hands. See how your skin covers your hand so differently - especially when you bend your hand and make a half fist or a whole fist.

Amazing - wonderful packaging.

Are you amazed at the variety in creation: the skin on apples, bananas, elephants, humans?

Great packaging - evolving over millions and millions of years.

What’s your take on skin?

When you get home - when nobody’s watching - look in the mirror.

Look at your face. It’s you. It’s your skin! You’ve been wearing this face for so many years now.

It’s not a mask. It’s you - how people recognize you.

It’s on your driver’s license. It’s on your passport. It’s on your Facebook - if that’s the way you go.

What do you see in the mirror? What do people see when they see your face when you come in the door - face forwards?

Do they have to ask, “How was your day?”

Our skin tells so much - when we blush, when we’re flushed, when we’re sick, when we’re worried, when we’re smiling, when we’re laughing, when we’re eating ice cream, when we got an A or $1,000 dollars back from the IRS.

SECOND EXERCISE - HUMAN TOUCH - HUMAN SKIN

The second exercise would be to reflect upon human touch.

Watch people touch each other - especially with tenderness.

Watch people touching their babies - grandparents - parents - nose to nose - kissing them on top of their heads. Notice babies - they tell you immediately whom they know and have grown used to - and want to reach out to.

I do a bunch of funerals - and I’m always - almost late - and I often wonder as I’m running across the parking lot - running towards the church - seeing couples heading for the church, “Do married couples who don’t usually walk into church holding hands, hold hands when they are heading into church for the funeral of someone their age?” Just a question. Just a wondering. I don’t know the answer.

I don’t hear too many kids of today complaining that their parents didn’t hug them - like I heard in the past.  Have we recovered in the hug department?

At Mass we give the sign of peace. There are still some people who never liked that - and I’ve learned to not be a PITA about that. But it certainly was and is an attempt to build more bridges in this world. And it certainly has become for many people a wonderful part of the Mass. There was a move to move the Sign of Peace to near the beginning of the Mass - like at the Lord have mercy - but that idea died. They stuck with it - for after the Our Father - after we say, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

And we receive communion for the most part in the hand around here - and I think we have continued to be understanding of each other when it comes to receiving communion on the hand vs. on the tongue. If it’s worry about sins of the hand vs. sins of the tongue, I think the sins of the tongue wins hands down. Smile. And if it’s germs we’re worried about, I keep on hearing priests, deacons, Eucharistic ministers talk about the difficulty of putting communion onto someone’s tongue compared to the hand. So that’s my preference, but I’m for a preference accepting church and humanity. And I’m not here today to push that agenda - but to look at skin - and human touch.

In the gospels, we often see folks trying to reach out and touch Jesus and we see people being touched by Jesus.

There’s a prayer there - there’s a meditation there.

Our Catholic religion is touchy - it’s sensey - it’s visual.

We touch our skins with water coming into church.

We anoint a newly baptized baby with 2 oils - in the Roman Rite - on the Adam’s or Eve’s apple - here on the neck and on the forehead after the water is poured on the newly baptized.

Touch is important.

So too the other sacraments - confirmation, priesthood - Sacrament of the Sick.  So too the love of husband and wife - in the great sacrament of marriage - lots of touch, lots of holding, are called for - and needed.

So too the tattoo urge - on the skin - what are our thoughts about that?

So too the beautiful darkening of United States' skin…. By 2050, hopefully, we’ll be much more at home in our skin - much more assimilated - much more Torontoficated. I love being on the Toronto or New York Subway - such great colors and such great variety of skin tones.

CONCLUSION

Enough already.

I hope my homily goes more than skin deep.

I hope we all grow in acceptance, appreciation, and holy love of ourselves and each other - no matter who we are and how we look.

 If we have the skin of a baby - life’s been easy on us so far - praise God.

Or if we have the skin of wrinkled history and story and struggle - with marks and scars to prove it. Praise God. Amen.