What bites us will heal us!

What bites you will heal you. This principle is often used in medicine to help the immune system trigger a response in the body to fight against the very thing which threatens to kill it. There is something counterintuitive about this because are natural instinct is to run away from that which will threaten to kill or destroy us. We become fearful of the things which seem to threaten our existence be they on the land or in the sea. We are familiar with stories about snake bites and shark attacks. Yet the main question is how we live in a land where we know that this is part of our natural fauna. How do we protect ourselves from that which can threaten to destroy us?

This is the question which Jesus puts in the scriptures when he talks about examining the things in life that can destroy our relationships with God and with each other. Last weekend this was examined in the light of the Ten Commandments and the actions which can undermine these relationships and make them toxic. Today’s Gospel is about bringing these actions into the light so that we can grow in our relationship with God. However, there can be a natural resistance to do this for fear that in exposing the sin we expose something of our own vulnerability and frailty. The fear is that if we acknowledge that which has damaged our relationships we will further damage ourselves.

The truth is that if we do not acknowledge the evils present in our society and the fact that they exist we cannot find remedies for these evils. Surely this is true in the stories we have read about over these weeks of Lent: the pleas for clemency for those convicted of drug trafficking, the need to face the reality of domestic violence, the dangers of homelessness, the effects of PTSD on troops returning home from active service and also the issues of child abuse within institutions. The acknowledgement that these things happen is the first step in seeking healing for people who have been bitten by these evils. By acknowledging the truth and bringing it light we discover it will not destroy us but it will provide healing to some of our most vulnerable people.