Monday of the Third Week of Lent

Today's Mass Readings

Today’s opening reading shares the narrative of Naaman, a Syrian military leader afflicted with leprosy. Naaman, an outsider to Israel, reluctantly seeks out Elisha, the prophet, to find a remedy for his dreaded disease. Skeptical that the prophet’s simple directive to bathe in the Jordan River seven times could result in healing, he departs in his chariot with resentful pride. However, when his servants encourage him to follow the holy man’s instructions, he ultimately complies and experiences total restoration of his flesh. Yet more than physical healing took place; he proclaims: “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel” (2 Kgs 5:15). He has come to believe in the God of Israel.

Jesus highlights this miraculous healing of a foreigner to rebuke his own neighbors in Nazareth for their lack of faith in him. “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place…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” (Lk 4:24,27). They could not believe that a carpenter’s son could truly be the Messiah, despite being astounded by the gracious words from his mouth and hearing of the miraculous signs he was performing.

This Gospel challenges us to evaluate the depth of our own faith and spiritual condition. Do we truly believe that Jesus can bring healing to the “leprosy” in our own lives, regardless of what form it takes? Such restoration occurs only if we invite the Divine Physician to enter our hearts and work within our souls. We must seek out Jesus—in the same way Naaman approached Elisha—and humbly submit to his prescribed remedy, even if it appears overly simple to us. Let us cry out with the psalmist: “As the hind longs for the running waters, so my soul longs for you, O God” (Ps 42:2). 

Reflection by Br. Michael Marcotte, OSB