20260309 HINDRANCES TO THE HEALING GRACE OF GOD
09 March 2026, Monday, 3rd Week of Lent
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.
HINDRANCES TO THE HEALING GRACE OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [2 KGS 5:1-15; PS 42:2-4; LK 4:24-30]
The season of Lent is indeed a season of grace. The Church wants us to be fully receptive to His grace, which is offered to all, regardless of nationality, race, religion, or status in life. He wants to heal us all – body, mind, and soul.
So what is preventing us from receiving His grace? This is the spiritual lesson the Church wants to teach us as we enter the last week of the first half of Lent, which focuses on spiritual growth. The primary obstacles to grace are pride and self-will. For this reason, the healing of the body must always be preceded by the healing of the mind and the heart – especially from pride and from a disordered and stubborn will.
In the first reading, we meet Naaman, the proud and mighty army commander of ancient Syria. He was struck with leprosy, and we can be sure it must have been a most humbling experience for him. Everyone was under his command save the king. He was the second most powerful person in the country, yet in the face of a terminal and tragic illness, he was helpless and powerless.
As if this was not humbling enough, he was told to seek help from the Jews whom he had conquered – from a slave girl to Naaman’s wife. The last straw was when Elisha refused to meet him personally and instead sent word for him to go to the River Jordan and bathe himself seven times. Because of his pride, he initially did not want to stoop so low as to do what he had been advised.
His pride and self-will wanted to dictate how things should be done. After all, he was the commander. He was used to giving orders, not receiving them. He thought money could solve the problem. Hence, “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.” Of course, as the King of Israel admitted, “Am I a god to give death and life that he sends a man to me and asks me to cure him of his leprosy?”
And when he was sent to the prophet, he was angry that Elisha did not receive him personally. Instead, Elisha sent a messenger to say, “Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will become clean once more.” We read that “Naaman was indignant and went off in rage, 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?'”
This same pride was manifested in the contemporaries of Jesus. They could not accept how a young man who was one of them could preach with such authority. They could not believe that Jesus could perform miracles. They had no faith in Him. just as Naaman initially had no faith in the prophet. It was too humiliating for them to recognise that the boy Jesus who had grown up among them had now become a man with a divine mission. Their minds were closed, and their pride blinded them to the truth. Indeed, they were enraged and reacted violently. “They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him up the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff.” Consequently, no miracles could be performed among them.
Fortunately, Naaman was encouraged by his servants to humble himself before the power of God. They reasoned with him, saying, “My father, if the prophet had asked you to do something difficult, would you not have done it?”
St James wrote, “But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God.” (Jas 4:6f) In the same vein, St Peter wrote, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time.” (1 Pet 5:6)
Truly, the gateway to faith is humility. Only those who have the humility to believe can be healed by the Lord. For this reason, the healing of the mind and heart always precedes the healing of the body. It is the soul – the mind and the heart – that needs healing. Otherwise, without an open mind and a humble heart, there is no way for the grace of God to enter. Pride and self-will make us think that we can dictate to God how and what should be done. Faith, however, is the total surrender to divine wisdom and providence, trusting that whatever happens is always for our good. But this requires humility.
Naaman eventually humbled himself, and he was healed. “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.'”
Indeed, the healing of Naaman, as understood by the Fathers of the Church, is a foreshadowing of Christian baptism. Leprosy, a skin disease where the flesh is gradually eaten away, is a symbol of sin eating into us each day. Just as Naaman was cleansed of leprosy by washing himself in the River Jordan, so too we are cleansed of our sins at baptism, for Jesus Himself was baptised in the River Jordon.
What is essential for baptism is faith in the Lord Jesus, which brings about the forgiveness of sin and the healing of the mind and heart, leading to the restoration of the whole person. Like Naaman, whose flesh “became clean once more like the flesh of a little child”, we too are restored to the innocence that humanity had before the fall of Adam and Eve. In baptism, we become a new creation and God’s children in Christ.
So, during this season of Lent, the liturgy invites us to turn back to God and stop relying solely on ourselves. We must seek Him and be reconciled with Him so that He can take charge of our lives. Through repentance and forgiveness, we can once again hear the Word of God and His voice in our hearts. With the psalmist we pray, “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? 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.”
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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