CYCLE C 28TH
1. Let’s start with Naaman, He was a Gentile. A successful soldier from Syria. At times Syria was an ally of Israel and at times it was not. He was considered to be suffering from a chronic and humiliating skin ailment. That it was Leprosy is unsure. Skin rashes caused by poor nutrition or poor hygiene, Acne, boils even hair loss all had the same name Leprosy. Naaman surely would have been quarantined if he had Leprosy.
What we didn’t hear is that he was invited by an Israelite Slave girl to go to the King of Israel to have his ailment cured. It was the King who sent him to the Prophet Elisha. And Elisha then sent Naaman to the River Jordan to PLUNGE himself 7 times in the water. And upon completion of this BAPTISMAL Like Ritual, Naaman was totally cleansed.
2. The point of this OT reading is twofold. A) God/ Yahweh’s Providential care, and that also of His Emissaries, must be seen to extend to all peoples. But the work accomplished through His Emissaries must seen as God working through them. And B) for all people PAST-PRESENT-FUTURE, the mission of evangelization is an important part of our spiritual call. The servant Girl gets an A+. Because through her, Naaman was given the opportunity to recognize the ONE TRUE GOD. OT thinking linked and limited a DIETY to a particular territory. Naaman in realizing that YAHWEH was the one true God, then asked for 2 loads of earth so that he could build an altar and offer sacrifice to this GOD OF Israel. And he could do it in his own country back in Syria.
3, Let us go to the Gospel story of the 10 lepers for some important points to ponder also.
For the 9 Lepers who did not come back, we cannot say that they were not necessarily GRATEFUL. They were told to follow Moasic Law and go to the Priests who were the only ones who could definitively declare them healed. …and they did. But as far as we could tell, they were only changed Physically. The Spiritual transformation desired by Jesus, that is for them to SEE Jesus as the source of their Healing, was ignored and overlooked.
4. The 1 leper who did return to personally THANK Jesus for what he did, happened also to be a Samaritan. And that really complicated things. As a Leper he was OSTRACIZED from not only the PHYSICAL community he lived in, but as a Samaritan living in a territory largely made up of Jews, this leper was also OSTRACIZED by the Community on a SPIRITUAL basis as well.
He was told to go to the priests and show himself, but in all likely hood, the priest would not have given him a chance to be seen. Samaritans, were ancestrally half Jewish / half Gentile. They were outcasts, not to be extended spiritual practices of the temple.
In the Gospel, our Samaritan Leper friend, was the one who Seemed to be cured both PHYSICALLY and more importantly SPIRITUALLY. This Exhibited by his extra step of THANKS.
Perhaps because he had suffered more, both physically and spiritually, that he was more open to Jesus healing touch and the transforming experience of Faith in what Jesus had done for him.
5. Our church reminds us that we are called to be people of ‘Thankfulness’ to our God. He has given us many, many gifts. He ALSO has forgiven us our many leprous sins. And our best opportunity to BE physically and spiritually transformed, IS our encounter with Jesus in the SACRAMENTS.
-In Baptism…He has given us the Gift of Salvation. Like Naaman or any spiritual lepers, he washes away our Impurities, our leprosies. Have we THANKED HIM?
-In Confirmation…He gives us the Fullness of the Holy Spirit. Like Naaman and our Samaritan Leper, we to were once OUTCASTS, with the gift of the Spirit. we hopefully are able to Recognize God working in our lives and those around us. As we invite them to be healed by Him. Do we THANK HIM for these event and opportunity?
-And in our weekly LITURGY…like Naaman who took dirt home to build an altar, or the 9 Lepers, who had to go to the Priest to be declared clean and the temple to offer sacrifice, coming to this altar to gives THAMKS to God for all His cures and gifts he has given us, IS THE BEST WAY.
6. REMEMBER, AS WE PARTICIPATE IN THE SACRAMENTS, OUR FAITH IS SAVING US.
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