Monday of the Third Week of Lent
Lectionary: 237
Lectionary: 237
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.”
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.”
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.
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.
“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.”
On his arrival he stood before him and said,
“Now I know that there is no God in all the earth,
except in Israel.”
Responsorial
Psalm42:2, 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?
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 GospelPS 130:5, 7
I hope in the LORD, I trust in his
word;
with him there is kindness and plenteous redemption.
with him there is kindness and plenteous redemption.
GospelLK 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.
“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.
Meditation: Jesus' power to
heal and cleanse
Do
you believe that God wants to act with power in your life today? Power to set
you free from sin and hurtful desires, fear and oppression. Throughout the
Scriptures we see God performing mighty acts to save his people from death and
destruction - from Noah's ark that spared his family from the flood of
wickedness that had spread across the land to Moses and the Israelites who
crossed through the parting waters of the Red Sea as they fled the armies of
Pharoah their slave Master and oppressor.
Throughout
the Gospel accounts Jesus praised individuals who put their faith in God as
they remembered the great and wonderful deeds he had performed time and again.
Jesus even praised outsiders - non-Jews and pagans from other lands who had
heard about the mighty deeds of the God of Israel. One example Jesus mentioned
was Naaman the pagan army commander from Syria who was afflicted with leprosy -
a debilitating skin disease that slowly ate away the flesh (2 Kings 5:1-15).
Naaman's slave-girl was a young Jewish woman who had faith in God and
compassion for Naaman her master. She urged him to seek healing from Elisha,
the great prophet of Israel.When Naaman went to the land of Israel to seek a
cure for his leprosy, the prophet Elisha instructed him to bathe seven times in
the Jordan river. Namaan was indignant at first, but then repented and followed
the prophet's instructions. In doing so he was immediately restored in body and
spirit.
Healing
the leprosy of soul and body
What is the significance of Naaman's healing for us? Ephrem the Syrian (306-373 AD), an early Christian teacher from Edessa, tells us that Naaman's miraculous healing at the River Jordan, prefigures the mystery of the healing which is freely granted to all nations of the earth by our Lord Jesus through the regenerating waters of baptism and renewal in the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5).
What is the significance of Naaman's healing for us? Ephrem the Syrian (306-373 AD), an early Christian teacher from Edessa, tells us that Naaman's miraculous healing at the River Jordan, prefigures the mystery of the healing which is freely granted to all nations of the earth by our Lord Jesus through the regenerating waters of baptism and renewal in the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5).
"Therefore
Naaman was sent to the Jordan as to the remedy capable to heal a human being.
Indeed, sin is the leprosy of the soul, which is not perceived by the senses,
but intelligence has the proof of it, and human nature must be delivered from
this disease by Christ's power which is hidden in baptism. It was necessary
that Naaman, in order to be purified from two diseases, that of the soul and
that of the body, might represent in his own person the purification of all the
nations through the bath of regeneration, whose beginning was in the river
Jordan, the mother and originator of baptism." (commentary ON THE
SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 5.10-1)
Jesus
told Nicodemus, "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). The Lord Jesus wants to renew in
each one of us the gift of faith and the regenerating power of baptism and the
Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5) which cleanses us of the leprosy of sin and makes us
"newborn" sons and daughters of God.
Confronting
the sin of indifference and unbelief
When Jesus first proclaimed the good news of God's kingdom to his own townspeople at Nazareth (Luke 4:23-27), he did not hesitate to confront them with their sin of indifference and unbelief. He startled his listeners in the synagogue at Nazareth with a seeming rebuke that no prophet or servant of God could receive honor among his own people. He then angered them when he complimented Gentiles who had shown more faith in God than the "chosen ones" of Israel. Some who despised the Gentiles (non-Jews) even spoke of them as "fuel for the fires of hell." Jesus' praise for "outsiders" offended the ears of his own people because they were blind-sighted to God's merciful plan of redemption for all the nations. The word of rebuke spoken by Jesus was met with indignation and hostility. The Nazarenes forcibly threw him out of their town and would have done him physical harm had he not stopped them.
When Jesus first proclaimed the good news of God's kingdom to his own townspeople at Nazareth (Luke 4:23-27), he did not hesitate to confront them with their sin of indifference and unbelief. He startled his listeners in the synagogue at Nazareth with a seeming rebuke that no prophet or servant of God could receive honor among his own people. He then angered them when he complimented Gentiles who had shown more faith in God than the "chosen ones" of Israel. Some who despised the Gentiles (non-Jews) even spoke of them as "fuel for the fires of hell." Jesus' praise for "outsiders" offended the ears of his own people because they were blind-sighted to God's merciful plan of redemption for all the nations. The word of rebuke spoken by Jesus was met with indignation and hostility. The Nazarenes forcibly threw him out of their town and would have done him physical harm had he not stopped them.
The
Lord brings healing and pardon to all who humbly seek him with faith and trust
We all stand in need of God's grace and merciful help every day and every moment of our lives. Scripture tells us that "the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning" (Lamentations 3:22-23). God gives grace to the humble who seek him with expectant faith and with a repentant heart that wants to be made whole and clean again.
We all stand in need of God's grace and merciful help every day and every moment of our lives. Scripture tells us that "the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning" (Lamentations 3:22-23). God gives grace to the humble who seek him with expectant faith and with a repentant heart that wants to be made whole and clean again.
The
Lord Jesus will set us free from every sinful habit and every harmful way of
relating to our neighbor, if we allow him to cleanse and heal us. If we want to
walk in freedom and grow in love and holiness, then we must humbly renounce our
sinful ways and submit to Christ's instruction and healing discipline in our
lives. Scripture tells us that the Lord disciplines us for our good
that we may share his holiness (Hebrews 12:10). Do you want the Lord
Jesus to set you free and make you whole again? Ask him to show you the way to
walk in his healing love and truth.
"Lord
Jesus, teach me to love your ways that I may be quick to renounce sin and
wilfulness in my life. Make me whole and clean again that I may delight to do
your will."
A
Daily Quote for Lent: Could
anyone refuse to love our God?, by Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430
A.D.
"Fulfill
the commandments out of love. Could anyone refuse to love our God, so abounding
in mercy, so just in all his ways? Could anyone deny love to him who first
loved us despite all our injustice and all our pride? Could anyone refuse to
love the God who so loved us as to send his only Son not only to live among human
beings but also to be put to death for their sake and at their own hands?"
MONDAY, MARCH 16, LUKE 4:24-30
Lenten Weekday
(2 Kings 5:1-15b; Psalm 42)
Lenten Weekday
(2 Kings 5:1-15b; Psalm 42)
KEY VERSE: "Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place" (v. 24).
TO KNOW: The people of Nazareth were amazed by Jesus' teaching, but they were also skeptical as to where he got his authority. If he performed miracles elsewhere, why had he not worked any in his own hometown? Jesus said that prophets are never accepted by their own people. He compared his ministry to the prophets Elijah and Elisha who were rejected by their own, yet brought healing and hope to the Gentiles (1 Kgs 17; 2 Kgs 5). The people were angered by Jesus' words. Was he saying that the Gentiles were more favored by God than they were? They were certain that they were God's people and believed that the Gentiles were nothing but fuel for the fires of hell. Outraged, they dragged Jesus from the synagogue and attempted to throw him over a cliff. Miraculously, he eluded them. This incident prefigured the persecution that Jesus continually faced until his ultimate fate on Calvary.
TO LOVE: Lord Jesus, help me to listen to your voice today.
TO SERVE: Pray for Christians around the world who face persecution and death for the sake of the gospel.
Monday 16 March 2020
2 Kings 5:1-15. My soul is thirsting for the living God:
when shall I see him face to face? – Psalm 41(42):2-3, 42:3-4. Luke
4:24-30.
No prophet is ever accepted in his own country
Alana: ‘Jesus, why did you stir up the people in the Synagogue of
your hometown. You had them eating out of your hand, and then you got stuck
into them. Why lose them like that?’ Jesus: ‘They thought they
were entitled, Alana. God had worked miracles through me elsewhere, and they
thought I owed them just because I was a local. No one who thinks themselves
entitled can ever understand God’s word. With God, it’s all gift.’
Alana: ‘Well, Jesus, they didn’t seem to appreciate the gift that
you were. Just as well you have special friends like me who have promised to
stick by you.’
Jesus: ‘Thanks, Alana. Are you sure you don’t feel a little bit
entitled, though?’
Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer
Saint of the Day for March 16
(December 26, 1751 – March 15, 1820)
 |
| Statue of Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer near Church of the Visitation of Our Lady in Hluboké Mašůvky, Znojmo District | photo by Jiří Sedláček |
Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer’s Story
Clement might be called the second founder of the Redemptorists,
as it was he who carried the congregation of Saint
Alphonsus Liguori to the people north of the Alps.
John, the name given him at Baptism, was born in Moravia into a
poor family, the ninth of 12 children. Although he longed to be a priest, there
was no money for studies, and he was apprenticed to a baker. But God guided the
young man’s fortunes. He found work in the bakery of a monastery where he was
allowed to attend classes in its Latin school. After the abbot there died, John
tried the life of a hermit, but when Emperor Joseph II abolished hermitages,
John again returned to Vienna and to baking.
One day after serving Mass at the Cathedral of St. Stephen, he
called a carriage for two ladies waiting there in the rain. In their
conversation they learned that he could not pursue his priestly studies because
of a lack of funds. They generously offered to support both John and his friend
Thaddeus, in their seminary studies. The two went to Rome, where they were
drawn to Saint Alphonsus’ vision of religious life and to the Redemptorists.
The two young men were ordained together in 1785.
Newly professed at age 34, Clement Mary, as he was now called,
and Thaddeus were sent back to Vienna. But the religious difficulties there
caused them to leave and continue north to Warsaw, Poland. There they
encountered numerous German-speaking Catholics who had been left priestless by
the suppression of the Jesuits. At first they had to live in great poverty and
preach outdoor sermons. Eventually they were given the church of St. Benno, and
for the next nine years they preached five sermons a day, two in German and
three in Polish, converting many to the faith. They were active in social work
among the poor, founding an orphanage and then a school for boys.
Drawing candidates to the congregation, they were able to send
missionaries to Poland, Germany, and Switzerland. All of these foundations
eventually had to be abandoned because of the political and religious tensions
of the times. After 20 years of difficult work, Clement Mary himself was
imprisoned and expelled from the country. Only after another arrest was he able
to reach Vienna, where he was to live and work the final 12 years of his life.
He quickly became “the apostle of Vienna,” hearing the confessions of the rich
and the poor, visiting the sick, acting as a counselor to the powerful, sharing
his holiness with all in the city. His crowning work was the establishment of a
Catholic college in his beloved city.
Persecution followed Clement Mary, and there were those in
authority who were able for a while to stop him from preaching. An attempt was
made at the highest levels to have him banished. But his holiness and fame
protected him and prompted the growth of the Redemptorists. Due to his efforts,
the congregation was firmly established north of the Alps by the time of his
death in 1820.
Clement Mary Hofbauer was canonized in 1909. His Liturgical
Feast Day is March 15.
Reflection
Clement Mary saw his life’s work meet with disaster. Religious
and political tensions forced him and his brothers to abandon their ministries
in Germany, Poland, and Switzerland. Clement Mary himself was exiled from
Poland and had to start all over again. Someone once pointed out that the
followers of the crucified Jesus should see only new possibilities opening up
whenever they meet failure. Clement Mary encourages us to follow his example,
trusting in the Lord to guide us.
Lectio Divina: Luke 4:24-30
Lectio Divina
Monday, March 16, 2020
Season of Lent
1) Opening prayer
Just and holy God,
our loving Father,
You offered us Your hand in friendship
and You sent us Your Son Jesus
to go with us on the road
of obedience and loyalty. God, we often hurt this friendship;
we act as if we were not Your sons and daughters.
See the look of shame on our faces.
Forgive us, for we count on You.
Accept our thanks
for continuing to take us as we are
and loving us notwithstanding our sins.
We ask You this through Christ our Lord.
our loving Father,
You offered us Your hand in friendship
and You sent us Your Son Jesus
to go with us on the road
of obedience and loyalty. God, we often hurt this friendship;
we act as if we were not Your sons and daughters.
See the look of shame on our faces.
Forgive us, for we count on You.
Accept our thanks
for continuing to take us as we are
and loving us notwithstanding our sins.
We ask You this through Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - 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.
3) Reflection
• Today’s Gospel (Lk 4:24-30) forms part of a larger part (Lk
4:14-32). Jesus had presented His program in the synagogue of Nazareth, using a
text from Isaiah which spoke about the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the
oppressed (Is 61:1-2) and which mirrored the situation of the people of Galilee
at the time of Jesus. In the name of God, Jesus takes a stand and defines His
mission: to proclaim the Good News to the poor, to proclaim release to
prisoners, to give back sight to the blind, to restore liberty to the
oppressed. After finishing the reading, He updates the text and says, “Today
this text is being fulfilled even while you are listening!” (Lk 4:21). All
those present were astonished (Lk 4:16, 22b). But immediately after there was a
reaction to discredit. The people in the synagogue were scandalized and did not
want to know anything about Jesus. They said, “Is He not the son of Joseph?”
(Lk 4:22b). Why were they scandalized? What is the reason for this [unexpected]
reaction?
• Because Jesus quoted the text from Isaiah only to the part
that says, “to proclaim a year of favor from the Lord,” and He omits the end of
the sentence, which says, “to proclaim a day of vengeance for our God” (Is
61:2). The people of Nazareth remained surprised because Jesus omitted the
phrase on vengeance. They wanted the Good News of the liberation of the
oppressed to be an action of vengeance on the part of God against the
oppressors. In this case the coming of the Kingdom would be only a superficial
social change, and not a change or conversion of the system. Jesus does not
accept this way of thinking. His experience of God the Father helps Him to
understand better the significance of the prophecies. He takes away the
vengeance. The people of Nazareth do not accept that proposal, and the
authority of Jesus begins to diminish: “Is He not Joseph’s son?”
• Luke 4:24: No prophet is ever accepted in his own country.
Jesus answers, “No prophet is ever accepted in his own country!” In fact, they
did not accept the new image of God which Jesus communicated to them through
this new and freer interpretation of Isaiah. The message of the God of Jesus
went beyond the limits of the Jewish people and opened itself to accept the
excluded and all humanity.
• Luke 4:25-27: Two stories of the Old Testament. In order to
help the community to get beyond the scandal and to understand the universality
of God, Jesus uses two well known stories of the Old Testament: one of Elijah
and the other one of Elisha. Through these stories He criticized the people of
Nazareth who were so closed up in themselves. Elijah was sent to the foreign
widow of Zarephah (1 Kg 17:7-16). Elisha was sent to take care of Naaman of
Syria (2 Kg 5:14). The people of Nazareth felt threatened by this. Paul makes a
similar statement with similar results too (Acts 22:21)
• Luke 4:28-30: They intended to throw Him off the cliff, but He
passed straight through the crowd and walked away. What Jesus said did not calm
the people down. On the contrary! The use of these two biblical passages
caused them to become more angry. The community of Nazareth reached the point
of wanting to kill Jesus. And thus, at the moment in which He presented His
plan to accept the excluded, Jesus Himself was excluded! But He remained calm!
The anger of the others did not make Him change His mind. In this way, Luke
indicates that it is difficult to overcome the mentality of privilege which is
closed up in itself. And he showed that the polemic attitude of the gentiles
had already existed in the time of Jesus. Jesus had the same difficulty which
Luke had with the Hebrew community in his time.
4) Personal questions
• How do I carry on the gift of the Good News in the world
today?
• Who are the excluded whom we should accept more warmly in our community?
• Does taking on poverty, oppression, or blindness (in all its forms) start on a personal level and spread to my community, or do I wait for the community to act before taking personal action?
• Who are the excluded whom we should accept more warmly in our community?
• Does taking on poverty, oppression, or blindness (in all its forms) start on a personal level and spread to my community, or do I wait for the community to act before taking personal action?
5) Concluding Prayer
My whole being yearns
and pines for Yahweh's courts;
My heart and my body cry out
for joy to the living God. (Ps 84:2)
and pines for Yahweh's courts;
My heart and my body cry out
for joy to the living God. (Ps 84:2)
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