“Cheers” Nailed it Perfectly

We are known by many people, and for many different reasons. Sometimes, we’re glad to be known by—family, by friends, by a prospective employer. And there are others to whom we’d like to remain anonymous—potential rivals, those who might drain our attention or energy, the IRS! But deep down in our hearts, we all have a longing desire to be truly known by someone we trust and love. The theme song for the old TV sitcom “Cheers” nailed it perfectly: “…you want to go where everybody knows your name.” If you are fortunate enough to be known in that wonderful way, it is deeply transformative…

In my priestly ministry, I have found that, by far, the most spiritually distressing situation we can find ourselves in is when we feel isolated or alone… We are wired for community, and when we are deprived of it, we are truly less than human. Every city has its marginalized population, but so also does every family, and even every parish. The community of the marginalized is fragile but large.

When the leper encounters Jesus in today’s Gospel, he asks to be made clean, to be sure. But what he is really asking for is to be included in the community from which he was originally cast out…