THE DAILY GOSPEL
February 29, 2016 (Monday)
3rd Week of Lent Psalter: Week 3/(Violet)
Ps 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4 A thirst is my soul for the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of
God? 1st Reading: 2 K 5:1-15b
Naaman was the army commander of the king of Aram. This man was highly regarded and enjoyed the king’s favor, for Yahweh had helped him lead the army of the Arameans to victory. But this valiant manwas sick with leprosy.
One day some Aramean soldiers raided the land of Israel and took a young girl captive who became a servant to the wife of Naaman. She said to her mistress, “If my master would only present himself to the prophet in Samaria, he would surely cure him of his leprosy.”
Naaman went to tell the king what the young Israelite maidservant had said. The king of Aram said to him, “Go to the prophet, and I shall also send a letter to the king of Israel.”
So Naaman went and took with him ten silver talents, six thousand gold pieces and ten festal garments. On his arrival, he delivered the letter to the king of Israel. It said, “I present my servant Naaman to you that you may heal him of his leprosy.
When the king read the letter, he tore his clothes to show his indignation, “I am not God to give life or death. And the king of Aram sends me this man to be healed! You see, he is just looking for an excuse for war.”
Elisha, the man of God, came to know that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, so he sent this message to him: “Why have you torn your clothes? Let the man come to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and stopped before the house of Elisha. Elisha then sent a messenger to tell him, “Go to the river Jordan and wash seven times, and your flesh shall be as it was before, and you shall be cleansed.”
Naaman was angry, so he went away. He thought: “On my arrival, he should have personally come out, and then paused and called on the name of Yahweh, his God. And he should have touched with his hand the infected part, and I would have been healed. Are the rivers of Damascus, Abana and Pharpar not better than all the rivers of the land of Israel? Could I not wash there to be healed?”
His servants approached him and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had ordered you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? But how much easier when he said: ’Take a bath and you will be cleansed.’”
So Naaman went down to the Jordan where he washed himself seven times as Elisha had ordered. His skin became soft like that of a child and he was cleansed.
Then Naaman returned to the man of God with all his men. He entered and said to him, “Now I know that there is no other God anywhere in the world but in Israel. Gospel: Lk 4:24-30
Jesus added, “No prophet is honored in his own country. Truly, I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens withheld rain for three years and six months and a great famine came over the whole land. Yet, Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in the country of Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet; and no one was healed except Naaman, the Syrian.”
On hearing these words, the whole assembly became indignant. They rose up and brought him out of the town, to the edge of the hill on which Nazareth is built, intending to throw him down the cliff. But he passed through their midst and went his way. Reflection:
One of the striking things about Elisha, the man of God, is his freedom. He is not at all impressed by the fact that his visitor is none other than Naaman, a valiant, highly esteemed, respected army general who has brought victory to his country, and who comes to “buy” his cure for leprosy with “ten talents, six thousand gold pieces, and ten festal garments.” When Naaman arrives at Elisha’s door, he does not get down from his chariot and instead waits for the prophet to come out to him. But Elisha does not go out to greet his famous (and arrogant) visitor. He merely sends him a message through his servant. To Elisha, the great general is no more than any other man. Naaman receives no special privilege, no V.I.P. treatment, no particular attention through a private consultation.
The people who are close to God enjoy the same inner freedom as Elisha. Why? Because the fact of being deeply attached to God detaches them from all that is not God. And this includes money, power, prestige, fame, youth, beauty, etc. When all is said and done, the ultimate power is love, which nothing can buy or conquer by force.