THE APOSTLE OF THE LEPERS

"...I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ."

Every year on April 15th, the people of Hawaii celebrate "Father Damien Day," in recognition of the Catholic priest Father Damien (Jozef de Veuster).  Father Damien served as the spiritual leader to the leper colony in Molokai, Hawaii, from 1873 until his death in 1889 from leprosy he contracted during his ministry.

The leper colonies in Molokai were created by the King of Hawaii in response to the growing number of people contracting the contagious disease, originally brought to the island by foreign traders and sailors.  Since leprosy was considered incurable and fear of contagion persisted throughout the islands, the Hawaiian legislature passed the "Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy," and dictated the forced relocation of lepers to two colonies on the island of Molokai.  Originally, the Government planned to support the lepers through direct food aid and anticipated the colonists would plant gardens to supplement the Government assistance, but the progression of the disease and the lack of governmental resources made this impossible.  The result was a colony characterized by squalor and decrepit conditions, with immorality and licentiousness being the norm.  And, because of fear of the disease, no one would dare come to assist those who needed their help.  That is, until Father Damien arrived.

Having been called into the ministry at an early age, Father Damien dreamed of being a missionary in foreign lands, of reaching out to the poor and needy as an imitation of Christ.  Coming to the Hawaiian Islands, his dream was fulfilled when the Bishop asked for volunteers to minister to the lepers in the two Molokai colonies.  Many refused the call to minister to the lepers because of fear of the disease, but Damien went, and ministered to the lepers both spiritually and physically.  After building a church for worship services, he led the colonists to build and paint houses and to organize themselves into a functional and moral society built upon the foundation of Christianity. 

But Damien did much more than just minister to the colonists with words and deeds.  He ministered with touch.  You see, the lepers in these colonies experienced the same isolation and lack of physical touch that the lepers in biblical times experienced.  In Jesus' day, lepers were isolated outside of villages, and were required to ring a bell and call out in a loud voice, "Unclean, unclean," when others approached.  No one would dare touch a leper for fear of catching the deadly disease.  Human touch, outside of that of other lepers, was nonexistent, and the lepers lived a lonely, isolated life.

That is why the ministry of Jesus to the lepers of His day was so amazing.  Not only did Jesus stop to speak to the lepers and treat them like normal human beings, He also did the unthinkable.  He touched them.  Before He spoke healing into their lives.  Before they were made clean and whole, He touched them.  He let them know they were accepted.  He let them know they were loved.  And then He brought His healing into their lives.

He did the same to us, who, while not leprous, were still unclean in the eyes of God.  As Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."  Our unrighteousness made us as untouchable to God as the lepers were to the general society of their day.  But the Bible tells us that Christ loved us while we were yet sinners.  And Jesus shocked the Pharisees and the religious leaders of His day by not only touching sinners and lepers and others deemed "unclean," but socializing with them and eating with them and loving them.  Jesus touched us while we were still sinners, while we were still unclean, and He loved us in spite of it.

Jesus became one of us, leaving His glorious kingdom and His rights as the Creator God and King of Kings, to become one with us, to love us and touch us and heal us, to reconcile us with the Father.  He touched us with His life and gave His body and blood to heal us and to make us whole again.

Father Damien, the Apostle to the Lepers, contracted leprosy because he followed the pattern that Jesus taught.  He reached out and loved and touched the lepers in the colony.  He became a leper so he could minister to them the love of Christ.  He took upon himself their disease and their illness and became one with them so that they might know the saving grace and healing power of Jesus Christ.  So let us celebrate today the memory of this remarkable man of faith, who lived out the message of the gospel and of the grace of Jesus Christ, giving his life for others in exchange for a place in the Kingdom of God.