Celebración de la palabra

Monday March 16

Monday of 3rd Week of Lent

SALVATION FOR PAGANS

Introduction

Today’s liturgy thinks especially of converts who are baptized and immersed into the baptismal water. Are conversion and missionary action still valid? Why be concerned about unknown, distant peoples? – Elisha cured the pagan officer from Damascus, Syria, and the man found both healing and faith. Jesus, not accepted as a prophet in his own town, says that salvation will be offered to pagans. That doesn't mean that the missionary will not be always understood and welcomed in the missions...

Opening Prayer

Lord God, our Father,
you want all people to be saved
through faith in Jesus Christ, your Son.
May Christians not practice
spiritual selfishness and clannishness
but may their faith mean so much to them
that they want to share it with others,
that your Son may be known and loved everywhere,
for he is the Lord of all for ever.

Reading: 2 Kgs 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,

Responsorial Psalm PS 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?

Verse Before the Gospel: See Ps 130:5, 7

I hope in the LORD, I trust in his word;
with him there is kindness and plenteous redemption.

Gospel: Lk 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

It all seemed just too ordinary. Naaman, an army commander in a neighboring country, is a respected military leader but suffers from some form of leprosy. One of his servant girls suggests that he visit the prophet Elisha in Israel. Naaman decides to act on the proposal, but, following the proper protocol, he first presents himself to the king of Israel, with the proper letters from his own king.
The king of Israel is distraught with the request that is made. He has no interest in finding a prophet healer. Elisha the prophet hears about the case and asks the king to send Naaman to him. Elisha then directs Naaman to go to the Jordan and wash himself
seven times. But the Jordan waters are insignificant in comparison with the rivers of Syria, Naaman’s home country. He is not going to follow the directive until his servants urge him to give it a try. He does so, is immediately healed, and returns home a convinced believer in the God of Israel.
Faced with the continued obstinacy of his opponents, Jesus drawn on the Naaman story to highlight the openness of foreigners to God’s action while Israelites were frequendy left behind because of intransigence and hardness of heart. Naaman was dubious but remained open to what was asked of him.
Perhaps many of us are slow to see the hand of God in the ordinary events of life. A person who had lived a life far from God is at some point drawn to God by conversion of heart. Or a quiet unassuming pastor becomes God’s instrument in bringing a hardened sinner back to Christ.
It may be that at times we stand too close to an event to see God’s hand. We would do well to be spiritually attentive. Miracles may not appear with undue frequency—but they do appear.

Points to Ponder

The presence of God in daily events
Conversion: a moment of God’s grace
Being alive to the sacred in life

Intercessions

– For those who are preparing for baptism, that the Word of God may become their guide in life and that baptism may renew them, we pray:
– For the Christian community, that they may prepare a hearty welcome and support for the newly baptized, we pray:
– For those who have joined us in the faith, that they may experience us as joyful, redeemed people who know how to love and to serve, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord, our God,
may we have enough faith
to welcome your Son among us
in these simple signs of bread and wine.
May we and people everywhere
accept that you come to us all
with a human approach
through the humanity of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Lord, our God,
Father of all people everywhere,
strengthen with your word and your body and blood
all those who have left
their country and culture
to bring your Good News
to different countries and other cultures.
May they humbly serve their new people,
receive their love and gifts of mind and heart,
and help the local Church
to grow in Jesus Christ,
your Son and our Lord.

Blessing

We should also think during Lent the converts who will be accepted into the Church through baptism, the great Lenten sacrament. It is not merely that individuals join us in the Church, but that the community of the Church must be ready to receive these people and to make them feel at home. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.