« (...) And you, who are hiding shyly in the shade, come here. Do not be afriad.»
«My Lord!» The ex-leper is at Jesus’ feet.
«Stand up. Your name?»
«Simon.»
«Your family?»
«My Lord… it was powerful… I was powerful too… But bitter sectarian hatred… and errors of youth damaged its power. My father… Oh! I must speak against him who caused me to shed so many earthly tears! You see, You saw the gift he gave me.»
«Was he a leper?»
«He was not. Neither was I. But he suffered from another disease which we in Israel associate with various forms of leprosy. He…. his caste was then triumphant, he lived and died as a powerful man, at home. I… if You had not saved me, I would have died in the valley of sepulchres.»
«Are you alone?»
«Yes, I am. I have a faithful servant who looks after what property is left. I sent word to him.»
«And your mother?»
«She… is dead.» The man seems embarrassed.
Jesus looks at him attentively. «Simon, you asked me: “What shall I do for You?” Now I say to you: “Follow Me”.»
«I will, at once, my Lord… But… But I… let me tell You one thing. I am, I was called “Zealot” because of the caste, and “Cananean”, because of my mother. See. I am of a dark complexion. In my veins there is the blood of a slave woman. My father had no children from his wife, and he had me from a slave. His wife was a good woman and she brought me up as her own son, she took care of me in my endless illnesses until she died…»
«There are no slaves or freemen in the eyes of God. There is only one slavery in His eyes: sin. And I have come to abolish it. I am calling everybody, because the Kingdom is of all men. Are you a learned man?»
«Yes, I am. I also had my position amongst the important people, as long as my disease was hidden under my clothes. But when it spread to my face… My enemies then could not believe they were at last able to confine me amongst the “dead”, although a Roman doctor of Caesarea, when I consulted him, told me that mine was not real leprosy, but hereditary serpigo, which I would spread only by procreation. Is it possible for me not to curse my father?»
«You must not curse him. He has caused you all sorts of trouble…»
«Yes, he did! He was a squanderer, a vicious, cruel, heartless man without any love. He deprived me of my health, he denied me love and peace, he branded me with a shameful name and with a disease which is a mark of infamy… He wanted everything for himself, even his son’s future. He deprived me of everything, also of the joy of being a father.»
«That is why I say to you: “Follow Me”. As My follower you will find father and children. Look up, Simon. There, the True Father is smiling at you. Look at the wide world, at the continents, at the countries: there are children and children everywhere; children of the souls for the childless. They are waiting for you, and many like you are also waiting. There are no foundlings under My Sign. There is no solitude, no difference in My Sign. It is a sign of love, and it gives love.