20160229 NIPPING SIN IN THE BUD
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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2 Kings 5:1-15 ©
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Naaman, army
commander to the king of Aram, was a man who enjoyed his master’s respect and
favour, since through him the Lord had granted victory to the Aramaeans. But
the man was a leper. Now on one of their raids, the Aramaeans had carried off
from the land of Israel a little girl who had become a servant of Naaman’s
wife. ‘She said to her mistress, ‘If only my master would approach the prophet
of Samaria. He would cure him of his leprosy.’ Naaman went and told his master.
‘This and this’ he reported ‘is what the girl from the land of Israel said.’
‘Go by all means,’ said the king of Aram ‘I will send a letter to the king of
Israel.’ So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand
shekels of gold and ten festal robes. He presented the letter to the king of
Israel. It read: ‘With this letter, I am sending my servant Naaman to you for
you to cure him of his leprosy.’ When the king of Israel read the letter, he
tore his garments. ‘Am I a god to give death and life,’ he said ‘that he sends
a man to me and asks me to cure him of his leprosy? Listen to this, and take note
of it and see how he intends to pick a quarrel with me.’
When
Elisha heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent word to the
king, ‘Why did you tear your garments? Let him come to me, and he will find
there is a prophet in Israel.’ So Naaman came with his team and chariot and
drew up at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent him a messenger to say,
‘Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will become clean once
more.’ But Naaman was indignant and went off, saying, ‘Here was I thinking he
would be sure to come out to me, and stand there, and call on the name of the
Lord his God, and wave his hand over the spot and cure the leprous part. Surely
Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, are better than any water in Israel?
Could I not bathe in them and become clean?’ And he turned round and went off
in a rage. But his servants approached him and said, ‘My father, if the prophet
had asked you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? All the
more reason, then, when he says to you, “Bathe, and you will become clean.”’ So
he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, as Elisha had told
him to do. And his flesh became clean once more like the flesh of a little
child.
Returning
to Elisha with his whole escort, he went in and stood before him. ‘Now I know’
he said ‘that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
41:2-3,42:3-4 ©
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My soul is
thirsting for God, the God of my life: when can I enter and see the face of
God?
Like the deer that
yearns
for
running streams,
so my soul is
yearning
for you,
my God.
My soul is
thirsting for God, the God of my life: when can I enter and see the face of
God?
My soul is thirsting
for God,
the God
of my life;
when can I enter and
see
the face
of God?
My soul is
thirsting for God, the God of my life: when can I enter and see the face of
God?
O send forth your
light and your truth;
let these
be my guide.
Let them bring me to
your holy mountain,
to the
place where you dwell.
My soul is
thirsting for God, the God of my life: when can I enter and see the face of
God?
And I will come to
the altar of God,
the God
of my joy.
My redeemer, I will
thank you on the harp,
O God, my
God.
My soul is
thirsting for God, the God of my life: when can I enter and see the face of
God?
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Gospel
Acclamation
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2Co6:2
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Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
Now is the favourable
time:
this is the day of
salvation.
Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
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Or
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cf.Ps129:5,7
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Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
My soul is waiting
for the Lord,
I count on his word,
because with the Lord
there is mercy
and fullness of
redemption.
Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
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Gospel
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Luke 4:24-30 ©
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Jesus came to Nazara
and spoke to the people in the synagogue: ‘I tell you solemnly, no prophet is
ever accepted in his own country.
‘There
were many widows in Israel, I can assure you, in Elijah’s day, when heaven
remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged
throughout the land, but Elijah was not sent to any one of these: he was sent
to a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town. And in the prophet Elisha’s time
there were many lepers in Israel, but none of these was cured, except the
Syrian, Naaman.’
When they
heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their feet and
hustled him out of the town; and they took him up to the brow of the hill their
town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff, but he slipped
through the crowd and walked away.
NIPPING
SIN IN THE BUD
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 2 Kings 5:1-15;
Psalm 42:2-3,
42:3-4;
Luke 4:24-30
Leprosy
was the most deadly and frightening of all diseases in ancient times as there
was no cure. Not
only was this infectious disease physically destructive of one’s body but it
was a very slow process of seeing one’s flesh being eaten up. It was a
horrible sight that brought tremendous emotional pains to the
inflicted. But most of all, they had to be ostracized from the
community as the disease was infectious. Consequently, the scriptures
have always used leprosy as a symbol of sin because it destroys the infected
sinner, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
However
like all diseases and sickness, if we nip it in the bud, the chances of cure
are so much better. Before
it gets worse, we must arrest the problem so that it would not develop into
something larger and get totally out of hand. This is true for
those suffering especially from cancer. If discovered early, the
possibility for remission is very high. But if we ignore it, as
many do, and do not take cognizance of the signs of changes in our body, by the
time we discover it and it is already full grown, we will not be able to arrest
it.
To
inspire us in this direction, we have a pagan Commander by the name of Naaman,
who was the officer of the King of Aram (Syria). He was apparently infected with leprosy
although it could be just a skin disease as then there was no science that
could determine whether it was leprosy or just a form of skin disease.
Whatever it was, it was the beginning of serious trouble for
Naaman. Fortunately, Naaman was determined to heal it at its
roots. He asked the king for permission to seek a cure in
Israel. He did not wait any longer and with the King’s permission,
set out to look for the prophet that could cure him.
During
this season of Lent, have we examined the sins in our lives and the wrong
things that we are doing and taken the necessary corrective actions? The trouble with us is that we
think they are merely “imperfections and weaknesses.” In our
consideration, they are venial sins and therefore there is no urgency or will
even to correct them. We just live with our anger, temper, sloth, envy,
gluttony, greed and lust because we say these are “natural and human”
desires. Yet, by failing to deal with them, they will grow to an extent
that we lose total control over such cravings and addictions and eventually
succumb to them. Failure to nip them in the bud will cost us untold
sufferings and misery, both to ourselves and loved ones.
But
who can heal us and help us to overcome our fight against sin and evil in our
lives? The
answer in today’s scripture readings is clear. Naaman, when he was healed
exclaimed, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in
Israel.” For us, Christ is our healer. He is the Way, the Truth and
the Life. As St Peter said, “There is salvation in no one else, for there
is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be
saved.” (Acts 4:12)
St Paul wrote, “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the
name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.” (Phil 2:9-11)
But
many do not know who the Lord is. Naaman did not know where to turn for help in his
desperation. The king of Aram was powerless in the face of this disease
that his trusted lieutenant was inflicted with. They thought the King of
Israel could solve the problem. But he admitted in dismay, “Am I a god to
give death and life,’ he said ‘that he sends a man to me and asks me to cure
him of his leprosy? Listen to this, and take note of it and see how he intends
to pick a quarrel with me.” In truth, he did not know
either. Truly in the face of death, we begin to realize that we can
be kings and commanders, but we are mortal after all.
So
for us to arrive at this conviction of Naaman after he was healed and the firm
faith of the apostles in Christ, we need help. This is what the Church seeks to
do during the season of Lent. The Church, as the community of faith,
provides us the ambience, the liturgy and the guidelines to arrive at a sincere
and contrite repentance of heart so that we can turn to Christ and share in His
resurrection and life. Naaman was fortunate to have his loyal maid and
servants to encourage him to take the step and follow the instructions of the
prophet regardless how silly or difficult they were, like, bathing seven times
in the river Jordan. And in spite of the initial skepticism, he
eventually gave in to the prophet and obeyed him. We too during the
season of Lent are called to come to Jesus and seek cleansing and healing either
through the Sacrament of Reconciliation for those who are already baptized and
for those who are not, they need to be immersed in the waters of baptism so
that they could be born anew in the Lord.
But
the biggest obstacle to conversion is those who are proud and arrogant. Such people would not be ready
to appreciate the call to conversion like the townsfolks of Jesus. Like
Naaman, they were too proud to accept that Jesus could be appointed by God to
be His prophet. They were not ready to listen to Him or to what He was
saying. When we are prejudiced or blinded by pride, we cannot
listen even when the truth is spoken. Without humility of heart, we will
not be able to listen to the Word of God. Such people, instead of
repenting, harden their hearts and rebel. The cause of rebellion is
always pride, which is the sin of the Devil. A rebellious heart
comes from pride because it knows everything and believes that it is always
right.
Indeed,
the real enemies of the Church are from within, not from without. What
makes the Church weak today is not because of secularism per se, but because we
have many Catholics who are sitting on the fence, whom we call “nominal
Catholics”, but we have many traitors as well, those who call themselves
Catholics but act against the Catholic Faith by supporting and promoting values
that are not Catholic and contrary to the teaching of the gospel; or worse,
some publicly going against the Pope and the magisterium, challenging their
authority to teach the truth; and yet ironically install themselves as
infallible in their beliefs! That is why relativism is even more
incredible and ridiculous than absolutism!
What
we need is humility, if we want to find healing and peace in our lives. Humility is the gateway to God.
When Elisha initially refused to meet the Commander in person, the latter
was furious. He thought too highly of himself even when he was on the
verge of an incurable disease. He was still haughty, proud and arrogant.
Elisha had to teach him a lesson of humility, if not he would not be able to
receive the grace of God. Through God’s grace, the servants managed to
convince him to swallow his pride. They said, “My father, if the prophet
had asked you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? All
the more reason, then, when he says to you, ‘Bathe and you will become
clean.’” Only when he did that and was healed, did Elisha eventually meet
him.
We
too must also know our place in this world. No matter who we are or how great an office we
hold, and how influential, we are nobody in the face of death. We are
merely human beings. All that we have comes from God and return to
Him. Even our success, as the first reading reminds us, comes from God
alone, which Naaman did not know earlier. The author prefaced the whole
story with these words, “Naaman, army commander to the king of Aram, was a man
who enjoyed his master’s respect and favour, since through him the Lord had
granted victory to the Arameans.” If he was successful, it was because
the Lord was with Him. So let us in humility come to the Lord, seeking
repentance and forgiveness of our sins. Let us pray to him like the
psalmist, “O send forth your light and your truth; let these be my guide. Let
them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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