20200316
GOD
USES ORDINARY INSTRUMENTS TO HEAL US
16 March, 2020, Monday, 3rd
Week of Lent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
First reading
|
2 Kings 5:1-15 ©
|
There were many lepers in Israel, but only Naaman, the Syrian, was
cured
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.’
Responsorial
Psalm
|
Psalm 41(42):2-3,42:3-4 ©
|
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?
Gospel
Acclamation
|
2Co6:2
|
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!
Or:
|
cf.Ps129:5,7
|
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!
Gospel
|
Luke 4:24-30 ©
|
No prophet is ever accepted in his own country
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.
GOD USES ORDINARY
INSTRUMENTS TO HEAL US
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 2
Kings 5:1-15; Psalm 42:2-3, 42:3-4; Luke
4:24-30]
Very often, people want
to be treated differently.
Those who are rich, powerful and influential seek preferential treatment. This
happens also in the Christian community. Just because we have given so
much to the church, we feel we should have special seats accorded to us or
special privileges and benefits. But the truth is that in baptism, all of
us are equal in the eyes of God because we are all His children. Indeed,
this is even true for those who do not know Him. St Peter, after seeing
the faith of Cornelius a pagan remarked, “I truly understand that God shows no
partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is
right is acceptable to him. (Acts 10:34f)
God does not take one’s
status in life into account when it comes to helping us. It is significant that Naaman, army
commander to the king of Aram, a very powerful man who enjoyed victory over his
enemies, was powerless in the face of an illness. No matter how powerful,
rich or famous we may be, we are never secure in our position. Anything
can strike us, be it an illness, a tragedy or an accident. In the
case of Naaman, God did not come to his help directly. Contrary to what
he thought, no amount of gold, silver and luxuries could earn him his health.
“Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of
gold and ten festal robes to see the King of Israel for a cure.” When the
King heard of it, “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.'” Indeed, we are all finite and limited in skills,
knowledge and powers. Life and death, sickness and health belong
ultimately to God alone.
God reaches out through
those who are ordinary.
It was through an insignificant servant of Naaman’s wife that a solution was
found. She said to her mistress, “If only my master would approach the
prophet of Samaria. He would cure him of his leprosy.” Often, help
comes not necessarily from great and influential people. God comes to our
help using ordinary people with no status to lead us, inspire and edify
us. Hence, it behooves us never to look down on those whom we think are
below our status. Unfortunately, this was how the Jews regarded
Jesus. When Jesus returned to His homeland, they could not accept that
one of their contemporaries had such powers when they knew Him then only as the
son of a carpenter, the son of Joseph. They said, “Where did this man get
all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power
are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of
Mary?” (cf Mk 6:2f)
God not only uses
ordinary people to bring about our conversion and healing, he also uses ordinary
things. When Naaman came
to Elisha, he was all smug and arrogant. He expected Elisha to attend to
him personally simply because he was a man of high reputation and social
standing. But Elisha ignored him. Instead he sent him a messenger to
say, ”Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will become clean
once more.” But Naaman’s ego was bruised. He 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, 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.” Such pride! He was suffering an incurable
illness but he was still so haughty. He wanted to be healed
spectacularly. Instead, he was asked simply to bathe in the river.
He wanted healing on his own terms.
This was also the case
of Jesus’ townsfolks who expected something spectacular from our Lord. They wanted to see Him perform
wonders and signs to satisfy their vanity and to show proof that He was indeed
the Visitation of God. They said to Him, “Do here also in your hometown
the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.” (Lk 4:23)
They demanded that Jesus demonstrate some remarkable miracles for them.
But it was not so that they might have faith in Him. It was solely to
satisfy their curiosity. And the Lord told them off, “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.”
Without faith, the Lord
will not heal us. Faith in Him is a presupposition. Faith, of course,
requires humility and trust. Those who lack humility cannot have
faith. Those who trust only themselves and their intelligence do not
realize that in a moment all that they have could be taken away.
All that we have is due to God’s grace alone. But there are those
who, like the Jews, rejected Jesus simply because they were prejudiced.
The religious leaders could not accept Him because He was not a trained rabbi
from any theological school. Naaman initially was open to the idea of
seeing the prophet. But he wanted things his way. He dictated to
the prophet how he should be healed. But the prophet had to teach him
what faith is. It requires humility to bathe in the river Jordan seven times.
Faith is also to trust
in God’s ways, which are ordinary ways, just like the sacraments that He uses
to transmit His grace to us. Just as He used the water of Jordan to heal Naaman,
God too uses different means to mediate His graces. In the sacraments,
water, oil, bread and wine are used to mediate the power and healing grace of
God. Some people ask why only blessed oil and water can heal. The
answer is simple, because the Lord left such sacramentals for the Church to
mediate His grace. In the case of baptism, by the pouring of water over the
forehead of the catechumen or by immersing oneself in the water, one’s sins are
forgiven and the whole being is made new. Through one’s immersion in the
waters of Baptism, we are cleansed of our sins and made a new creature, as in
the case of Naaman. This is where faith in the sacraments as given to us by the
Lord is required. Of course, water is the matter of the sacrament of
baptism whereas the pronouncing of the words “I baptize you in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” is the form of baptism.
But even with the matter and the form, what is required for the
sacraments and sacramentals to be efficacious depends also on the depth of our
faith in God’s mercy and the graces conferred by the sacraments. If faith
is lacking even if we receive the sacrament, it is latent and ineffective,
although valid. If faith is not present at all, the sacrament is even
invalid! What is needed is humility and faith. The
stronger the faith, the more graces we can receive. The lesser the faith,
the more obstacles we put in allowing His grace to touch us.
Finally, growing in
faith needs encouragement.
And this is where the servants of Naaman had a role to play. They
provided him the faith when faith was lacking. His servants persuaded
him, “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.” Indeed, when a
person is skeptical or too proud, he needs the encouragement of those who have
faith. We all have a great role to play by inspiring faith in those who
are searching for Him through our teaching, sharing of faith stories and
testimonies and our encouragement. This is why, in RCIA, we need sponsors
to journey with our catechumens in their faith. Not only do catechumens
require faith companions, even baptized Catholics too, need to be connected
with other Catholics so that by sharing faith stories and insights with each
other, they can encourage, edify and inspire each other in faith.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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