6th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Most of us remember a favorite game called, “Hide and Seek.” The one who was “it” had to be blindfolded and count to 100 while the rest scattered to find a good place to hide. The one who was “it” then removed the blindfold and went out to find the hiders. The good places were usually gone in a flash, and someone was left out in the open with no place to hide.
Jesus was like that. He had no place to hide. As knowledge of Jesus’ healing power spread throughout the region, he was overwhelmed with requests for a cure. He often needed a place to hide from the crowds. In today’s Gospel, he didn’t just ask, he sternly warned the newly cleansed leper: “Not a word to anyone now.”
But the leper could not contain the wonder of his cure. He told everyone. The crowds pursued Jesus until there was no place to hide. Scripture tells us he could not enter a town openly and had to stay in the desert places.
Deacon Dick Folger