In his book, Faith Seeking Understanding, Daniel Migliore points out that since the time of the New Testament writings it has been the principle of ecclesiology that where Christ is, there is the church. But where is Christ? Christian doctrine would say: Christ is where the bishop is; Christ is where the gifts of the Spirit are manifest; Christ is where the sacraments are celebrated and the Word rightly proclaimed. There is an element of truth in all of these answers, yet none of them explicitly includes the response given in Matthew 25:31ff. It is here that we discover Christ is among the poor, the hungry, the sick, and the imprisoned. Those who minister to the wretched of the earth minister to Christ.

Migliore goes on to point out that the true church is not only the church of the ear where the gospel is rightly preached and heard. The church is not only the church of the eye where the sacraments are enacted for the faithful to see and experience. But the church is also the church of the outstretched helping hand. Here in Galilee Jesus' encounter with the leper certainly affirms this fact. Today we need to let the church be the church, the body of Christ in the midst of the world. We need to carry on the hands-on ministry that Jesus inaugurated.