Word to the Wise
Monday, March 5, 2018 - 3rd Week of Lent - Mon
[2 Kgs 5:1-15a and Luke 4:24-30]MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2018. MONDAY IN THE THIRD WEEK OF LENT [2 Kings 5:1-15ab and Luke 4:24-30] "My father," they said, "if the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary, would you not have done it? All the more now, since he said to you, 'Wash and be clear,' should you do as he said." So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times at the word of the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. [2 Kings] Naaman the Syrian is quite a character. He is an important military personage and is used to doing things on a high and political level, but his "leprosy" has lost him his access to all that. One of his servants (captured, ironically, in a raid on Israel) tells him about Elijah. Naaman thinks he needs to go through the top echelons of Israel with all kinds of gifts only to discover that he just has to go find Elijah. Next, he discovers that Elijah is not impressed with his importance and sends him to the muddy little Jordan (compared with the BIG rivers in Syrian) to get rid of his leprosy. It is only when Naaman swallows his pride and does the little thing that the Man of God orders him to do that he is healed. Jesus, in today's gospel, speaks favorably of Naaman and compares his faith to that of Nazareth in a way that infuriates them. They could not believe that Jesus was a prophet and more. In short, he was saying that their faith was less than that of the gentile pagan, Naaman! I often hear folks say in confession, "I wish I had more faith." My response to that is to ask them what faith they DO have and to put it to work for them. Some folks do perform deeds that capture attention and highlight their heroism. But many of them were simply ordinary folks who happen to be in the right place at the right time. Most of us are simply called by God to put whatever faith we have to work in reaching out to others so that they will know "there is a God in Israel." This is not just for Lent. Lent can get us started so that we keep on reaching out to others in faith. This could mean involvement in our local parish, but it could also mean dong things that don't capture attention but do help others. Naaman's Pride got in the way of his healing. Finding those "little things" that make a big difference to one or two others but doing it on a steady basis will eventually result in doing big things for God. AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
93 ms
4
