TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
13 OCTOBER 2019
Naaman
was a very powerful general in the Syrian army.
As important as he may have been, he has also suffered the terrible
affliction of leprosy. In the ancient
world, leprosy was incurable and highly contagious, condemning Naaman to a
terrible fate. One of his Hebrew slaves
approaches him and urges him to get out of his comfort zone to contact the King
of Israel, who would know someone who can heal him. So, Naaman swallows his pride and approaches
the king of an alien territory. But the
king does not want to meet an enemy general.
So, he sends him to the prophet Elisha.
Even Elisha does not meet him in person.
Instead, he sends a messenger to tell him to plunge seven times into the
Jordan River. Angered by both of these
snubs, Naaman argues that the rivers in his native Syria are much better than
this muddy Jordan River. But, in his
desperation, he does what he is told.
Emerging from the River Jordan, he is healed of his leprosy and “his
flesh became again like the flesh of a little child.”
Naaman is
not only healed of his leprosy, but he has been healed of his arrogance. Transformed, he humbly accepts a gift given
to him by the God of Israel. Armed with
his new faith, he takes home two mule-loads of earth. With that grounding, he can offer a sacrifice
of thanksgiving to the God of Israel. He
is truly grateful for both undeserved gifts.
We know
nothing about the backgrounds of the ten lepers in today’s Gospel. Like Naaman, they are afflicted with a
terrible disease. Not only do they
suffer greatly. But they are also
completely isolated from the community.
Like Naaman, they are desperate and cry out for help, this time from
Jesus of Nazareth. At his command, they
go to show themselves to the priests and are healed along the way. Although all ten are healed of leprosy, only
one returns to express his gratitude.
And this one, like Naaman, is not of the House of Israel. This one is a hated Samaritan. In thanking Jesus, he is not only healed of
leprosy. He receives the gift of
salvation from the Savior of the world.
To be
honest, every one of us is afflicted with some kind of leprosy that causes pain
and separation from God, or ourselves, or others. That leprosy comes in many forms. For some of us, it might be an addiction or a
physical condition that limits our movements.
It might be an emotional affliction, like chronic depression or some
kind of mental illness. It might be a
destructive habit that seems impossible to overcome or a relational difficulty
with a spouse or a parent. It might
include wounds from suffering some kind of sexual or physical abuse.
No matter
how hard we try to heal whatever leprosy afflicts us, we become painfully aware
that we cannot heal ourselves. When we
are desperate, we have to humble ourselves to ask for help. That means turning to a doctor for relief
from physical problems, or to a therapist for help with emotional or relational
issues, or to the Sacrament of Reconciliation to break sinful habits. The Lord can use whatever afflicts us to
bring us closer to depending on him alone.
Like
Naaman, or like the Samaritan leper, we can express our profound gratitude at being
healed and saved. We express that
gratitude here in participating in this Sacrifice of praise and
thanksgiving. Deeply grateful, we can be
much more compassionate when confronted with the "leprosy” of others. Reconciled with the Lord, we can reach out to
those who have been separated in any way in our society. Having known the Lord’s healing ourselves, we
become instruments of the Lord’s healing for others.
No comments:
Post a Comment