Monday of the Third Week of Lent
Small
yet Significant
(Pride
& Prejudices to Submission)
Dear Brothers and sisters in Christ
Jesus, at the preaching of Jesus in Synagogue many people were amazed at his
teaching with authority but were not moved to faith. Looking at their impassive
response Jesus says “No prophet is ever
accepted in his own country”. He then goes on to give examples of two
famous prophets, Elijah and Elisha. When the people disobeyed their message and
later when there was a difficult situation in the nation the prophets were sent
to bless non believers rather than Isralites. By this example Jesus added fuel
to the fire, they were already angry and by this they felt insulted. So they
wanted to kill him, throw him out of their town.
The people of Nazareth thought they
knew everything, they were not ready to accept the Truth. They thought of Jesus
as just Carpenter’s Son, so they could not conceive the words of Jesus for in
their sight Jesus was an insignificant person (but not in reality). God speaks
in various ways through various people, and can lead sometimes even through
insignificant people.
In the first reading, We have the two best examples of
such people, small
in their status but significant in character.
The context was Naman, valiant and
victorious, the army commander from the king of Syria was a leper or suffering
from some kind of skin disease. There are two characters who would play an
important role in his healing.
1. The Young Israelite girl: she was taken as captive when they
invaded Israel and she became a maid to Naman’s wife. Though she was among
strangers she did not leave her faith and always remembered that her God is
faithful. Having learned of her master’s sickness she cared for him and was compassionate. She was also a trusted
servant.
She had faith in God, in the prophet
of God, and in his ability to cure the ailment. This gave a new hope to Naaman
and thus decided to go to Elisha with the permission of the King.
The Prophet
Elisha :
Naaman came to the prophet with a
lot of wealth and gifts, thinking that he could buy good health with wealth.
But not possible
When the prophet told him to wash
seven times in River Jordan, he felt insulted and full of anger. He thought the
prophet would magically wave his hand and cure him. Not the way he expected. His pride and
prejudice concealed his reasoning and thus decided in haste to return home.
This is where the second character
comes in to lead to healing.
2. The Soldiers / Servants of Namaan: the solderies/ Servant reason with
their Master, Naaman. They pleaded with him to listen to the prophet, it was a
simple act of washing seven times. They were caring for their Master and
trusting in the Prophet, so they made him rethink his decision. Thus when he
buries his pride and does what he is told, he comes out healed physically and spiritually.
Thus when he submits to the word he is healed.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
Jesus, there are times we miss the voice
and guidance of God through our pride and prejudices.
We can not buy health with wealth
but only through submission to God’s word
People of Nazareth lacked the attitude
of submitting and considering everyone is important thus missed out the
blessings. Naaman was also in a similar situation but through servant girl and
servants, though small, insignificant as per status but were significant for
healing and blessing.
Let us during this lent, remove the
obstacle of pride and prejudice and respect all. God speaks and works in
various ways, small yet significant.
“Now I know that there is no God in all
the earth, except in Israel. Please accept a gift from your servant.” (2 Kings 5:15)
God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and
God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly
and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing
those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God. (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)
