Monday of the Third Week of Lent
Saint John of God, Religious
Alternate Proper for the Memorial of St. John of God
Readings for Monday of the Third Week of Lent[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading I: 2 Kings 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.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on 2 Kgs 5:1-15ab
This story of the conversion of Naaman through Elisha’s office as Prophet has some interesting historical and ritual material. First, it is ironic that the King of Aram, which was an antagonist of Israel, would send one of their key people to Israel. That is why the King of Israel tore his garments, assuming the unreasonable request was made in order to provide a reason for physical hostilities.
Next we see Elisha not coming out of his house to instruct Naaman, but sending word to him. He did so because to come into the presence of one with leprosy would have caused him ritual impurity. Clearly Naaman did not know this, since he complained about it. Finally, the Jordan River, from a hygienic perspective, is not as good as the clear springs of Damascus. It is at the best of times muddy. The requirement that Naaman plunge himself into the water seven times is significant in that the number seven is, in Hebrew numerology, the perfect number; symbolic of completeness. The healing accomplished was to bring Naaman to confess there is no God but God (in Israel)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4
R. (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?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4
Psalms 42 and 43 are hymns of praise and express longing for God’s presence. The use of the deer (hind) longing for water links nicely back to the reading from Kings where water and the allusion to Baptism was used to bring belief out of unbelief.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Luke 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lk 4:24-30
This Gospel passage places Jesus at his home town speaking in the synagogue. The people there were questioning his authority since they knew him as a child and knew his family. This selection is his response to their questioning his status and authority.
We understand why the people were upset when we consider that, in his analogy explaining why he could accomplish no works from God, he used Elijah going to a widow in Sidon (not Israel) and Elisha curing Naaman (a Syrian not an Israelite). This would have placed Jesus on a par with the great Prophets, blasphemy in the eyes of his old neighbors. Perhaps even more upsetting to the people would have been that their God would not reveal himself because of their lack of faith.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
What guidance shall we take away from our scripture today? Clearly, the story from Kings of Naaman being cured through the intersession of Elisha links us directly to Jesus in Luke, challenging the people in his hometown synagogue. And the story there tells us that Jesus was rejected, not because the people did not know who he was, they knew him too well.
For people who delve deeply into scripture there is a clear warning here. When we break things down too far we easily forget that the whole is something totally holy while the parts may seem ordinary. Perhaps that is the lesson for all of us. Try this; let’s take a few words and define them.
And: conjunction (used to connect grammatically coordinate words, phrases, or clauses)
Body: noun, the physical structure and material substance of an animal or plant, living or dead.
Eat: “to take into the mouth and swallow for nourishment”
Is: verb, to exist or live
My: pronoun, the nominative singular pronoun, used by a speaker in referring to himself or
herself.
Take: “to get into one's hold or possession by voluntary action”
This: pronoun (used to indicate a person, thing, idea, state, event, time, or remark)”
Taken as their definitions describe them they are words, pieces of grammar, ordinary and used in many contexts and circumstances. However, when they are arranged in a certain order and under certain circumstances they take on an entirely different significance; “Take this and eat, this is my body.”
That same message speaks to faith in general. A few years ago there was a book on the New York Times Best Seller List. It was written by a notable atheist scientist and titled “God, the Failed Hypothesis”. It is unfortunate but true that some scientists who delve so deeply into the physical world, loose the wonder and cannot understand the miracle of what they study.
Just as Jesus was confronted by his neighbors and driven out, so do these unfortunate dupes loose their way and are deprived of the glory which is God’s creation. It is a good lesson for all of us. Let us pray that we keep that innocent perspective that allows us to see God and through that sight, receive His blessing.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “Elisha Refusing Gifts from Naaman” by Pieter de Grebber, 1630
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
Saint John of God, Religious
Alternate Proper for the Memorial of St. John of God
Readings for Monday of the Third Week of Lent[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading I: 2 Kings 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.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on 2 Kgs 5:1-15ab
This story of the conversion of Naaman through Elisha’s office as Prophet has some interesting historical and ritual material. First, it is ironic that the King of Aram, which was an antagonist of Israel, would send one of their key people to Israel. That is why the King of Israel tore his garments, assuming the unreasonable request was made in order to provide a reason for physical hostilities.
Next we see Elisha not coming out of his house to instruct Naaman, but sending word to him. He did so because to come into the presence of one with leprosy would have caused him ritual impurity. Clearly Naaman did not know this, since he complained about it. Finally, the Jordan River, from a hygienic perspective, is not as good as the clear springs of Damascus. It is at the best of times muddy. The requirement that Naaman plunge himself into the water seven times is significant in that the number seven is, in Hebrew numerology, the perfect number; symbolic of completeness. The healing accomplished was to bring Naaman to confess there is no God but God (in Israel)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4
R. (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?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4
Psalms 42 and 43 are hymns of praise and express longing for God’s presence. The use of the deer (hind) longing for water links nicely back to the reading from Kings where water and the allusion to Baptism was used to bring belief out of unbelief.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Luke 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lk 4:24-30
This Gospel passage places Jesus at his home town speaking in the synagogue. The people there were questioning his authority since they knew him as a child and knew his family. This selection is his response to their questioning his status and authority.
We understand why the people were upset when we consider that, in his analogy explaining why he could accomplish no works from God, he used Elijah going to a widow in Sidon (not Israel) and Elisha curing Naaman (a Syrian not an Israelite). This would have placed Jesus on a par with the great Prophets, blasphemy in the eyes of his old neighbors. Perhaps even more upsetting to the people would have been that their God would not reveal himself because of their lack of faith.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
What guidance shall we take away from our scripture today? Clearly, the story from Kings of Naaman being cured through the intersession of Elisha links us directly to Jesus in Luke, challenging the people in his hometown synagogue. And the story there tells us that Jesus was rejected, not because the people did not know who he was, they knew him too well.
For people who delve deeply into scripture there is a clear warning here. When we break things down too far we easily forget that the whole is something totally holy while the parts may seem ordinary. Perhaps that is the lesson for all of us. Try this; let’s take a few words and define them.
And: conjunction (used to connect grammatically coordinate words, phrases, or clauses)
Body: noun, the physical structure and material substance of an animal or plant, living or dead.
Eat: “to take into the mouth and swallow for nourishment”
Is: verb, to exist or live
My: pronoun, the nominative singular pronoun, used by a speaker in referring to himself or
herself.
Take: “to get into one's hold or possession by voluntary action”
This: pronoun (used to indicate a person, thing, idea, state, event, time, or remark)”
Taken as their definitions describe them they are words, pieces of grammar, ordinary and used in many contexts and circumstances. However, when they are arranged in a certain order and under certain circumstances they take on an entirely different significance; “Take this and eat, this is my body.”
That same message speaks to faith in general. A few years ago there was a book on the New York Times Best Seller List. It was written by a notable atheist scientist and titled “God, the Failed Hypothesis”. It is unfortunate but true that some scientists who delve so deeply into the physical world, loose the wonder and cannot understand the miracle of what they study.
Just as Jesus was confronted by his neighbors and driven out, so do these unfortunate dupes loose their way and are deprived of the glory which is God’s creation. It is a good lesson for all of us. Let us pray that we keep that innocent perspective that allows us to see God and through that sight, receive His blessing.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “Elisha Refusing Gifts from Naaman” by Pieter de Grebber, 1630
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
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