When the Homily is about Immunology

Transplants

Much ado about atonement lately. Simon has some interesting things to add and one particular comment he made while contemplating the idea that sin is like a sickness really got me thinking: We talk about Jesus taking our sin – but sickness is not transferable.

Perhaps not…but need it be? Many of the patients I work with have undergone some sort of transplant – typically bone marrow. BM transplants are rather unique in that they can be done in hopes of remedying a variety of disorders. For those who do not know: all of your blood cells are “grown” and differentiated in your BM and from there they proceed to function in their natural capacities, whether that be to carry oxygen or to fight disease. In a BM transplant, a patient’s diseased Bone Marrow is destroyed (usually via radiation) and a portion of a donor’s BM is transplanted into the patient with the intent of it thriving and growing therein and thus eventually utterly replacing the patient’s blood cells (along with ALL their various functions) with the donor’s. Dangers lie everywhere, such as the fact that any diseases the donor might have had will now become the patient's! It is a complex and risky proposition and the patients will spend the rest of their lives taking various drugs and undergoing many therapies in order to prevent relapse (sometimes the old diseased bone marrow will take over - a potential problem I believe that is eventually lost) and/or rejection, but despite the dangers it is very often the only hope some people have and it has proven to save many lives.

Much the same, the Christian life begins with Baptism…in which we die with Christ, the old man is crucified (like irradiated BM), and we have transplanted into us (through the Eucharist and all the sacraments) new life via Christ our Perfect, Holy, and Divine donor. His divine life is imbued in us and as we strive to abide in Him, we will be healed of the disease that has afflicted us.

"Abide in Me...I am the vine, you are the branches…