The essence of Jesus' mission was to restore humanity in the glory of God, His Father. True to His identity, He felt compassion for the outcast leper, stretching out His hand and touching him.

Such physical proximity with the "unclean" would have upset the norms of His society. And it is ironic that He who had given a new lease of life and freedom of movement to the leper, re-instating him within his community, now could no longer walk openly into any public place but had to "stay outside" in places where nobody lived.

In His incarnation, the Son of God experience alienation while being compassionate to everyone at all times. But such was the attractive power of His compassion that the crowds were drawn to wherever He was.

Our mission, like that of St Paul, is to mirror Christ. In trying to live this, we place the advantage of others above that of our own.

We need to be concerned for others' rights - the disenfranchised, the minority, those on the margins of society and church.

We need to act always on their behalf. Now, as Christians, our family is bigger than it used to be.

It is through Baptism that we are brothers and sisters of Jesus and hence of one another. We are children of Jesus' Father - our Father (as we say in the Lord's prayer).