12 July | Youth
«But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you.» Isaiah 59:2
In 1962, a French magazine published an article containing the “prophetic image” of people walking through the city streets in glass domes, without physical contact with each other. In the pandemic we experienced, these strange “ultramodern capsules” would have been welcomed, just as were the thousands of masks that became mandatory around the world. During this pandemic, there was a lot of talk about “social distancing,” something very difficult to maintain, because it is not at all pleasant to treat others as threats. We are social beings. We were not made for confinement. It affects what we are in our core. It hurts. It leaves a mark.
In Jesus' time, there were two basic forms of social distancing. The first, caused by leprosy. People with leprosy were forced to leave family life and live in a village of infected people like them, condemned to lose the tips of their ears, fingers, or noses until they finally died. Jesus cured many of them, but not all of them knew how to give thanks. The second occurred among “healthy” people, as is still common today. It was caused by social status and exclusivist behavior. For example, some religious people, due to their beliefs of superiority, distanced themselves from tax collectors, politicians, Roman soldiers, non-believers, foreigners and prostitutes, isolating themselves in their confraternities.
Christ, however, was not selective. He was welcoming, respectful, generous and forgiving. He had relationships with rich and poor, men, women and children, morally reprehensible people, and people beyond suspicion. He was therefore accused of being fickle and contradictory. They did their best to keep Him away from people. But this did not happen, as He came to be “God with us,” transforming Himself into the bridge over the abyss of sin that separates us from Heaven.
No sinner needs to practice “social distancing” from God, as Christ made access to the Father possible. No more keeping your distance, don’t you think? Take off your mask and throw yourself at the feet of Jesus. Give your life to Him and allow Him to transform you! The Savior’s embrace is the safest place in the universe!