Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

During the Third Week of Lent (especially in cycles B and C when the Gospel of the man born blind is not read on the Fourth Sunday of Lent) optional Mass Texts are offered.

“Get Behind Me, Satan”
by Ilya Repin,1895

Readings for Thursday of the Third Week of Lent [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary:[3]
 
Reading I: Jeremiah 7:23-28
 
Thus says the LORD:
This is what I commanded my people:
Listen to my voice;
then I will be your God and you shall be my people.
Walk in all the ways that I command you,
so that you may prosper.
 
But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed.
They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts
and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.
From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day,
I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.
Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed;
they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.
When you speak all these words to them,
they will not listen to you either;
when you call to them, they will not answer you.
Say to them:
This is the nation that does not listen
to the voice of the LORD, its God,
or take correction.
Faithfulness has disappeared;
the word itself is banished from their speech.
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Commentary on Jer 7:23-28
 
In this oracle, the Prophet Jeremiah, speaking with the voice of God, reminds the people that the Lord desires fidelity from them and they are not listening. The prophet’s plea echoes what Moses heard in Deuteronomy 4:1, asking the people to turn away from sin and be faithful. In this passage Jeremiah is referring to man’s fallen nature as he points to “the hardness of their evil hearts.”
 
In the final verse of this passage Jeremiah says: “Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech.” The people rejecting the “word” predict rejection of the Messiah, the Word made flesh.
 
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
 
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
 
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R.  If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
 
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R.  If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
 
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R.  If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
 
This part of Psalm 95, commonly used as the invitatory psalm for the Liturgy of the Hours, is a song of thanksgiving. In these strophes the incident at Meribah is remembered (Exodus 17:3-7), and God’s undeserved mercy proclaimed. The community is rejoicing that the Lord is God and that he has brought us salvation in spite of our forebears' obstinacy. We are encouraged to listen to the Lord, even if what we are asked to do is difficult.
 
CCC: Ps 95:1-6 2628; Ps 95:7-8 2659; Ps 95:7 1165; Ps 95:9 2119
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Gospel: Luke 11:14-23
 
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute,
and when the demon had gone out,
the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.
Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons.”
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them,
“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself,
how will his kingdom stand?
For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lk 11:14-23
 
In the Gospel from St. Luke we find Jesus, even in the face of his miraculous cure of the mute, being rejected by the people. They accuse him of representing a false god – Baal (the Jewish people nicknamed Baal – Beelzebul, “Lord of the Flies”).
 
In response to the crowd asking for a “sign,” Jesus (equating belief in the false god Baal with Satan) forcefully rejects that notion. He sees in their request for a sign the desire to see a different kind of sign, a sign that would validate their view of what the Messiah should be, kingly and powerful in secular rule.
 
Jesus attacks their logic by saying that no kingdom could stand if its servants attacked each other. He makes it clear that by attacking evil he demonstrates that he comes from God. He goes on using analogy to say that God will always conquer evil (God is stronger than the strongest evil), and further, rejecting God’s Son amounts to standing on the side of evil.
 
CCC: Lk 11:20 700; Lk 11:21-22 385
-------------------------------------------
Reflection:
 
Today we are given some of God's insight into the mind of mankind.  In Jeremiah, we are reminded of how the Hebrews, God's chosen ones, had, time and time again, turned away from God and been seduced by a secular society that provided more hedonistic pleasures.  We hear the prophet, in what sounds like a forlorn entreaty, imploring them to turn once more to faithfulness. 
 
The prophet's call is followed by the psalmist who remembers Meribah: literally, "contention," the place where the Israelites quarreled with God, and Massah: "testing," the place where they put God to the trial. As we know, there is within it a prayer for us, that we not grow stubborn like our fathers did.
 
Finally, in the Gospel from Luke, we see Jesus sparring with disbelievers of his own place and time.  They wanted a royal messiah, one who would come in glory, openly challenging the Roman domination.  When they asked him for a sign, that's what they wanted: a sign of power.  Jesus must have been exasperated with them.   But, if we had been there, could we have accepted this humble (but charismatic) carpenter from Galilee as the one predicted?
 
The theme that unifies our Scripture today is a call, yet again, for repentance.  On Ash Wednesday a little over three weeks ago we were told to "repent and believe in the Gospel."  We hear that message again today.  We cannot afford to be seduced by what secular society calls success and what Beelzebul calls good.  We are called to a higher standard and offered a greater reward.
 
Pax
 
Stations of the Cross

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[1] The picture is “Get Behind Me, Satan” by Ilya Repin,1895.

[2] S.S. Commemoratio

[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

During the Third Week of Lent (especially in Years B and C when the Gospel of the Samaritan woman is not read on the Third Sunday of Lent) optional Mass Texts are offered.

“Moses”
by Jusepe de Ribera, c.1650’s

 
Readings for Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary:[3]
 
Reading I: Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9
 
Moses spoke to the people and said:
“Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees
which I am teaching you to observe,
that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land
which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees
as the LORD, my God, has commanded me,
that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.
Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’
For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?
 
“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Dt 4:1, 5-9
 
This passage from Deuteronomy marks the end of the historical part of the book and the beginning of Moses’ presentation of the law and statutes. He addresses the whole people, telling them that unless they follow the statutes which he is about to present, they will not receive what God promises the faithful, in this case the land of milk and honey. There is a strong emphasis placed on passing the law on faithfully to the generations that follow, without forgetting any statute God enjoins upon them. While the promise of Moses was the inheritance of the land in a physical or literal sense, God’s later promise was a kingdom not of this earth.
 
-------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20
 
R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
 
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
 
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
He spreads snow like wool;
frost he strews like ashes.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
 
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
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Commentary on Ps 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20
 
Psalm 147 is a hymn of praise. In these strophes the singer celebrates God’s gifts to his people: the gift of faith to the patriarch Jacob, and the gift of His presence in the Holy City Jerusalem. These strophes are from the third section (each section offering praise for a different gift from God to his special people). This section focuses on the gift of the Promised Land with Jerusalem as its spiritual center. We see the call to praise Jerusalem, the Holy City, because in it was revealed the Word of God and a call to holiness. The Lord is praised for sending food that sustains the people. The final strophe also rejoices that the Law was handed on to them through Jacob.
 
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Gospel: Matthew 5:17-19
 
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 5:17-19
 
Those who believed that Jesus came to destroy the Jewish faith and laws are refuted in this passage from St. Matthew’s Gospel. The Lord tells them that he did not come to destroy the law, even though he disagreed with the way some of those laws were being implemented. Rather he came to fulfill it, essentially giving the law a reinterpretation through his own divine revelation.
 
“Jesus is quite aware that his radical spiritual doctrines, which proclaim the primacy of the interior being of man and seem to fly in the face of the Jewish religious establishment, would lend themselves to abuse and misinterpretation by religious dissenters  ̶  those dissatisfied elements who are always looking for more private and non-conformist religious alternative.” [4]
 
In this early encounter between Jesus’ mission and the Law of Moses, we are told that Jesus came to “fulfill” the law, to bring it to perfection as the Messiah. He supports the rabbinical teaching of the time, which separates the 613 individual precepts of the law found in the Pentateuch into “great and small,” based upon their seriousness, when he refers to breaking the least of the commandments. It is important to understand the Hebrew view of the Law: "The Law was thought to be the summary of all wisdom-human and divine, the revelation of God himself, a complete and a secure guide of conduct and endowed with a sacramental assurance of good relations with God." [5]
 
The passage is concluded in almost Mosaic style by saying that those who follow the law will be great in heaven. This draws a distinction between those who would break the law being least in heaven in the previous sentence.
 
CCC: Mt 5:17-19 577, 592, 1967; Mt 5:17 2053
-------------------------------------------
Reflection:
 
What strikes us most immediately today is the connection between Moses giving the Law to the Hebrew people with his instructions to them to be faithful to it, and Jesus who comes to fulfill the Law.  It is pretty easy to see how Jesus came to fulfill what the prophets had been saying for the 2,000 years of Hebrew history.  There were enough clues in the Old Testament scriptures to lead us to understand that statement before Jesus made it (reflecting also on the Augustinian quote: “The New Testament is concealed in the Old, and the Old is revealed in the New.”).  What takes more thought, however, is how he came to fulfill the Law.
 
The reason that is a difficult question for us is that, to us, the Law is a set of rules that guide behavior.  We must first understand the view of the Hebrews concerning the Law if we are to realize the immense importance of the statement Jesus made when he said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”  The scholarly statements about the meaning of the Law really help us here:
 
“The Law was thought to be the summary of all wisdom-human and divine, the revelation of God himself, a complete and a secure guide of conduct and endowed with a sacramental assurance of good relations with God.” [6]
 
When we look at his statement in the context of Lord’s mission on earth, we understand.  Jesus said in that short statement that he came to reveal the living God.  He came to provide the path to the Lord God; the Logos (Word) made flesh.
 
It takes the whole revelation to a new level once we see that the Law Moses presented was more than just rules.  The question that strikes us though is: if the law of Christ was more than rules for the early Christians, what should it be for us today?
 
If we accept Christ’s word as being the “sacramental assurance of good relations with God,” what place must the Word of God assume in our lives?  The Word is not only a guide for our actions but for our hearts, not only our thoughts but our prayers.  It is clear we must work very hard to accept Christ’s leadership in our lives, no matter how difficult the road. 
 
Pax
 
Stations of the Cross

---

[1] The picture used is “Moses” by Jusepe de Ribera, c.1650’s.

[2] S.S. Commemoratio

[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.

[4] Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume I. Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, © 1996 p. 211.

[5] Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 43:34, p. 70.

[6] Ibid.

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

(Optional Memorial for Saint Frances of Rome, Religious)

 
Proper for the Memorial of St. Frances of Rome 
 
Biographical information about St. Frances of Rome
 
During the Third Week of Lent (especially in cycles B and C when the Gospel of the man born blind is not read on the Fourth Sunday of Lent) optional Mass Texts are offered.
 

“Christ on the Cross”
by Jacques-Louis David, 1782

Readings for Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent [1]

 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary:[3]
 
Reading I: Daniel 3:25, 34-43
 
Azariah stood up in the fire and prayed aloud:
 
“For your name’s sake, O Lord, do not deliver us up forever,
or make void your covenant.
Do not take away your mercy from us,
for the sake of Abraham, your beloved,
Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one,
To whom you promised to multiply their offspring
like the stars of heaven,
or the sand on the shore of the sea.
For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation,
brought low everywhere in the world this day
because of our sins.
We have in our day no prince, prophet, or leader,
no burnt offering, sacrifice, oblation, or incense,
no place to offer first fruits, to find favor with you.
But with contrite heart and humble spirit
let us be received;
As though it were burnt offerings of rams and bullocks,
or thousands of fat lambs,
So let our sacrifice be in your presence today
as we follow you unreservedly;
for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame.
And now we follow you with our whole heart,
we fear you and we pray to you.
Do not let us be put to shame,
but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy.
Deliver us by your wonders,
and bring glory to your name, O Lord.”
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Dn 3:25, 34-43
 
The reading from Daniel is the Prayer of Azariah (Abednego), one of Daniel's three companions who were thrown into the furnace at the command of King Nebuchadnezzar because they would not worship the idol made of gold, which the king had made.
 
Azariah’s prayer is for the whole people of Israel, who are in dire straits. The final verses of the prayer express the penitential ideal, that God will accept a humble and contrite heart in lieu of the animal sacrifice required of their tradition at that time. (see also Psalm 51:18-19; Joel 2:13)
 
-------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 25:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9
 
R. (6a) Remember your mercies, O Lord.
 
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
 
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your kindness are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
 
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 25:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9
 
Psalm 25 is an individual lament. The sinful psalmist prays that “your ways” be made known. This request directs us to repentance and ultimately guides us to justice. In the first strophe of this hymn, we hear support for our belief that God answered the prayers of our ancient ancestors. Their trust was justified. The song continues as an individual prayer asking for guidance and salvation.
 
-------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35
 
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused.
Instead, he had him put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master
and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 18:21-35
 
This passage begins with the discourse on “forgiveness.” Peter asks the question that paraphrases one asked in the book of Genesis by Lamech (Genesis 4:24). He is looking for guidance in the form of a finite amount of forgiveness, and in answer receives the command that forgiveness must be infinite (represented by the multiples of seven and ten).
 
To emphasize this need for forgiveness, the Lord launches into the parable of the Unmerciful Servant.  The moral of this particular parable is that the measure we use to judge others is the same measure that will be used by God to measure us, when we come before him. “The model is the forgiveness of God, which knows no limit; and neither should man's forgiveness. If man does not forgive, he cannot expect forgiveness; if he does not renounce his own claims, which are small, he cannot ask God to dismiss the claims against him.” [4]
 
CCC: Mt 18:21-22 982, 2227, 2845; Mt 18:23-35 2843
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Reflection:
 
Heavenly Father, we humbly pray that those suffering from the coronavirus be returned quickly to full health by the power of your Son’s healing presence, and those in fear be calmed through the Holy Spirit.
 
In Christ’s name we pray. – Amen.
 
We recently reflected about the differences between the good and moral person and the Christian. Scripture today causes us to focus on another tenet of our faith – forgiveness. A question for you: can a good and moral person be considered so if they do not forgive a person who has wronged them? We propose that in the terms of society, the answer is “yes.” Going even further, a good and moral person would not be faulted for using the legal system to seek retribution from one who had wronged them using all the means at their disposal, attempting to gain monetarily from the situation.
 
If we call ourselves Christian, as a people who follow the teaching and example of Christ, we are called to go beyond even simple forgiveness. By simple forgiveness we mean communicating forgiveness to one who has wronged us, but holding anger in our hearts for the injustice for which, at some future time, we might exact revenge. Christ says the same thing: simple forgiveness is not enough; he calls us to forgiveness from the heart. It is a difficult thing, and we must differentiate forgiveness of a person and acceptance of a deed.
 
Just as a parent chastises a child for doing something wrong, but loves the child who did it, we are called to, as the saying goes, “hate the sin, but love the sinner.” Sometimes this can be very difficult because we associate the sinner with the sin. For example we might find it very difficult to love Adam Gadahn. Gadahn, 31, an American of Jewish descent was born Adam Pearlman in California. He has been called the "American face of Jihad," after producing numerous videos allegedly for Al Qaeda. He was deemed a traitor by the U.S. and in Oct. 2006 he was indicted for treason and giving aid and comfort to terrorists after the testimony of an FBI agent. Such a person we might feel was inherently dangerous to us, one so twisted by hate that forgiveness would not be an option. Yet, we are asked to love Adam and mourn his fall from grace as his parents would, but certainly his native faith community would not. Forgiveness is the commandment of Christ whose ultimate forgiveness we celebrate daily. It is that uniquely Christian call, at the heart of our actions, which labels us a “Christian.”
 
Today we are asked to be a people of forgiveness. We are called to go beyond legal justice, to Christ’s justice, which included forgiveness even for his own crucifixion. By setting this standard in our lives, we are assured that the same mercy and forgiveness will be shown to us as we stand before the Great Judge on the last day.
 
Pax
 
Stations of the Cross

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[1] The picture is “Christ on the Cross” by Jacques-Louis David, 1782.

[2] S.S. Commemoratio

[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.

[4] Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 43;127.

Monday of the Third Week of Lent

(Optional Memorial for Saint John of God, Religious)

 
Proper for the Memorial of St. John of God

Biographical information for St. John of God
 

“The Prophet Elisha and Naaman”
by Lambert Jacobsz, c. 1615

During the Third Week of Lent (especially in cycles B and C when the Gospel of the man born blind is not read on the Fourth Sunday of Lent) optional Mass Texts are offered.
 
Readings for Monday of the Third Week of Lent [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
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 his key advisers to Israel. That is why the king of Israel tore his garments. He assumed that Aram was making an unreasonable request in order to provoke physical hostilities between the two countries.
 
Next we see Elisha not coming out of his house to instruct Naaman, but sending word to him. He did so in part because to come into the presence of one with leprosy could have caused him ritual impurity (see Leviticus 13-14). Clearly Naaman did not know this, since he complained about it. Finally, the Jordan River, from a hygienic perspective, is not as clean 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. This would also be in line with the ritual cleansing prescribed in Leviticus 14:8. The lesson taught was that Naaman, washed clean of his transgressions (outwardly expressed as leprosy) was given the salvation only the God of Israel could provide (not some magical ritual performed by the prophet himself). The healing accomplished was to bring Naaman to confess that 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?
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Commentary on Ps 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4
 
Psalms 42 and 43 form a single continuous song.  It is an individual lament for a return to Jerusalem where God may be encountered in the temple.  The hind (female red deer) longing for water is used to provide the allusion to baptism, bringing belief out of unbelief.
 
CCC: Ps 42:3 2112
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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.
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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. These verses give his response to their challenge to 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 to satisfy them, he used Elijah going to a widow in Sidon (not in Israel, see 1 Kings 17:9ff), and Elisha curing Naaman (a Syrian not an Israelite, see 2 Kings 5:1ff). 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. (Ironically, Jesus, who we know is God, was revealing himself. The people just could not see it.)
 
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Reflection:
 
As we hear Jesus speak to his friends and relatives in the synagogue at Nazareth, it is easy for us to understand why Jesus is frustrated at their lack of faith.  Here they are, people that had the honor of growing up with him, knowing him as youth and man, yet they did not understand his divine nature.  They scoffed and rejected his attempted revelation.  In fact, many of them probably thought he had, as they say, “gone off his nut.”  His experience with his eccentric cousin John (the Baptist), and his sabbatical in the desert immediately following, must have caused him to come “unhinged.”
 
Jesus, of course, saw all of this in their faces and heard what was behind their words.  He would have felt intense sorrow, knowing that because of this familiarity and presumed understanding, his own friends and family would not be able to accept the great gift God had offered them.  An analogy might be if we were able to invent a treatment that would cure any disease somehow, and then offered it freely to those in our community hospital, but they would not accept it because we did not have credentials as a pharmacist. 
 
And what lesson do we take away from the Gospel?  Don’t we fall into the same trap?  Do we listen to those around us with the attention we would pay to a prestigious expert on the subject at hand?  We commonly miss God’s revelation because we do two things.  First, we judge the source, and if, in our opinion, that source is less credible than the wisdom we suppose we have already amassed, we tune it out. We ignore it.  Second, we just plain don’t listen.  Our own voice gets in the way of our auditory canals and we don’t hear what we should.  This is especially true in, of all places, prayer.  We are so busy telling God what we want that we don’t listen to his answers.
 
In the very truest sense, this is exactly the sin those ancient Hebrews committed when Jesus spoke to them in the synagogue.  They were not really listening.  This then is the lesson we take with us today.  It is rather complex and very difficult.  First, we must surrender our own pride and sense of superiority and listen intently to those with whom we communicate (even our children).  The word we hear may be life-changing.  Second, as a people of prayer, we must listen to God’s response with our hearts, not simply bombard the Lord with our words.  Let that be our prayer today, that our ears will be open that we might hear.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture is “The Prophet Elisha and Naaman” by Lambert Jacobsz, c. 1615.

[2] S.S. Commemoratio

[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.