The person who brought about this turnaround in the life of Paul was Jesus himself, whom Paul met on the road to Damascus. As Paul hunted down the followers of the Lord, Jesus said to him, “I am Jesus and you are persecuting me.” From this moment onwards, St. Paul would never again do anything offensive to anyone, neither Jew not Greek nor Church of God. St. Paul had come to know the Lord, who went about preaching and curing all who were sick. This Jesus of Nazareth never did anything offensive to anyone, though His opponents found much to be offended about. Today we hear of an encounter with a leper. Jesus is anxious that this cure should net be broadcast, for fear it would cause uproar. Ironically, the leper has found his place back among his own people and the Lord has been forced outside. But despite that consequence, Jesus was more than willing to heal the sick man. That is why He came – to bring true life to all people and to heal our sickness.
Our deepest hurts are the things that cause you to fight one another, our anger and our sense of injustice, our aggressiveness with one another and our violence. We are back where we started, with the advice of St. Paul: “Never do anything offensive to anyone.” These are the true sorrows of our world. How do we heal them?