Lest we miss the drama involved, it might help to recall what kind of disease we are talking about. Leprosy is still a problem in India, of course, where Mother Teresa worked with lepers for many years. It still stalks parts of Africa and Asia. But leprosy has largely disappeared from the Western world, so we tend to forget what a terrible and terrifying disease it really is.

You can carry the disease for years before the symptoms appear, but leprosy first appears as nodules on your skin which grow larger and larger, until they force deep wrinkles all over your body. Then your lips, nose and ear lobes grow thicker, until your face begins to resemble an animal's. You get ulcerations everywhere, which cause your arms and legs to be horribly mutilated. You start losing your fingers and toes and as the disease continues to progress, you are left blinded.

As if the disease itself wasn't cruel enough, there was also the social ostracism. Even in the Bible, there were strict rules given for dealing with lepers (see Leviticus 13-14).