There is a beautiful story told about Saint Damian of Molokai in Hawaii. He was the apostle of the lepers; and the most dramatic moment in his ministry came one day when he was celebrating Mass for them. He began his homily with "Fellow lepers". His people then realised that he had totally identified with them. He himself had contracted leprosy!

The Season of Lent, and the first reading today from Jeremiah, point to another bond of unity, of common identity, between us and our "separated brethren". We are all sinners in need of Jesus' saving grace. None of us can afford to be smug or self-righteous.

In the Gospel today, Jesus concludes His discussion by saying, "Anyone who is not against me is with me." This gives a more ecumenical meaning to the Gospel incident. We Christians, who proclaim that Jesus is Lord, should not spend our time destroying each other in the name of Jesus.

Can we meet our fellow Christians (and ultimately all our fellow human beings), with the greeting, "fellow lepers?" Not "you sinners" but, "we sinners"? If so, we have grasped the real meaning of our annual Lenten observance. We are all sinners - lepers - before God. We are always on the way to conversion. There can be no pharisaical self-righteousness in those who have a deep sense of their need for the healing grace of Jesus our Redeemer.