Reading 1
2 Kgs 5:1-15ab
Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram,
was highly esteemed and respected by his master,
for through him the LORD had brought victory to Aram.
But valiant as he was, the man was a leper.
Now the Arameans had captured in a raid on the land of Israel
a little girl, who became the servant of Naaman’s wife.
“If only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria,”
she said to her mistress, “he would cure him of his leprosy.”
Naaman went and told his lord
just what the slave girl from the land of Israel had said.
“Go,” said the king of Aram.
“I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.”
So Naaman set out, taking along ten silver talents,
six thousand gold pieces, and ten festal garments.
To the king of Israel he brought the letter, which read:
“With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you,
that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
When he read the letter,
the king of Israel tore his garments and exclaimed:
“Am I a god with power over life and death,
that this man should send someone to me to be cured of leprosy?
Take note! You can see he is only looking for a quarrel with me!”
When Elisha, the man of God,
heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments,
he sent word to the king:
“Why have you torn your garments?
Let him come to me and find out
that there is a prophet in Israel.”
Naaman came with his horses and chariots
and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house.
The prophet sent him the message:
“Go and wash seven times in the Jordan,
and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean.”
But Naaman went away angry, saying,
“I thought that he would surely come out and stand there
to invoke the LORD his God,
and would move his hand over the spot,
and thus cure the leprosy.
Are not the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar,
better than all the waters of Israel?
Could I not wash in them and be cleansed?”
With this, he turned about in anger and left.
But his servants came up and reasoned with him.
“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 clean,’ 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.
He returned with his whole retinue to the man of God.
On his arrival he stood before him and said,
“Now I know that there is no God in all the earth,
except in Israel.”
Ps 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4
Responsorial PsalmR. (see 42:3)
Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling-place.
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
Then will I go in to the altar of God,
the God of my gladness and joy;
Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
O God, my God!
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
Gospel
Lk 4:24-30
Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth:
“Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel
in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
Meditation: 2 Kings 5:1-15
“He returned … to the man of God.” (2 Kings 5:15)
Imagine a child whose parents tell him to do something a certain way, but he decides to do it his own way&mash;and with disastrous results. In a situation like this, good parents will encourage and reason with the child until he changes his mind. And then the boy is surprised at how successfully and effectively he completes the task. If only he had listened in the first place!
In a similar way, today’s story about Naaman shows us how God works to direct us away from relying on our own ideas and the ways of the world so that we can learn the blessings of doing things his way.
When Elisha told Naaman to do something that seemed ridiculous&mash;to wash seven times in the Jordan River&mash;Naaman “went away angry” (2 Kings 5:11). Why did he travel all this way just to be told to dunk himself in the paltry Jordan? He could have stayed home and enjoyed the lush, soothing waters of the rivers of Damascus. Surely his way was better than this “man of God” (5:8)!
Praise the Lord that Naaman’s servants acted as his conscience! They reasoned with him and persuaded him to change his mind. In a sense, they brought him to repentance, for Naaman humbled himself, turned back to the word of God, and was miraculously healed. This one choice led him into a deeper, more worshipful, and closer relationship with God.
God wants to guide our lives. Sometimes it’s in prayer, sometimes in Scripture or a homily. Sometimes it even comes through our spouse or a family member. No matter how you sense God’s direction, follow Naaman’s example. Even if you feel God nudging you in an unexpected direction, go ahead and test it out. If the result is positive, then go ahead and dive in. It may appear foolish at first, but in the end you will see that it is nothing less than the power of his Spirit to transform you and bring you to a deeper relationship with him.
“Jesus, help me to turn to you more fully today. Give me the grace to be changed by your word.”
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