28^th Sunday in O.T. (C); October 13, 2019

2 Kgs 5:14-17   Ps 98   2 Tim 2:8-13   Lk 17:11-19

Deacon Jim McFadden

 

From a worldly perspective, the worst thing a powerful person can do is admit his/her weakness to others. As we scan our political landscape, humility is in short supply. That’s one reason so many people, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, find Pope Francis so disarming. But, powerful people usually don’t do this because they fear that they’ll lose their power. Naaman the Syrian is a man of power, but he, unlike today’s politicos, is an example of humility. He does not let embarrassment stand in the way of admitting to his weakness. By doing so, he’s healed and offers praise to God. Like Naaman, admitting one’s weakness is the first step to proper worship.

The 2 Kings story has to do with Naaman, an army commander of the King of Syria. Naaman is a person of power and success, two of the major goods of the world that so many of us crave. But underneath this veneer of prowess, he has a thorn in his flesh in that he suffers from leprosy. From a slave girl he hears about prophets of Israel who are able to effect cures and he sends for information. This is a dangerous move because the general was sending scouts to a rival country to initiate a dialogue. Think of the Cold War: what would have happened if the head of the Joint Chief of Staffs made an unauthorized overture to the Soviet Union? It would have created suspicion on both sides. But, Naaman is desperate for a cure, so he’s checking it out. He has nothing to lose.

So, Naaman sends a message to the King of Israel to see whether he could come into the country to be cured. But, the King is suspicious because he just couldn’t believe that a Syrian army commander would admit his weakness and seek a cure from a rival.

Meanwhile, Elisha, the successor of Elijah, the prophet, gets wind of the request and he invites Naaman to come. The powerful man responds favorably, wherein Elisha gives him very precise instructions: “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean (2 Kgs 5:10b).

Now, at point, the pride of Naaman kicks in: before he had humbled himself, but now he becomes indignant: “I thought that he would move his hand over the spot, and thus cure the leprosy. Are not the rivers of Damascus…better than all the rivers in Israel?” (v. 11c).

But, Naaman is desperate; he overcomes his pride and does what Elisha asks and is cleansed. When he realizes what has happened to him, he comes to Elisha and professes faith in Elisha’s God.

Finally, he asks for something extraordinary: “Let me have two mule loads of earth, for I will no longer offer holocausts to any other god except to the Lord” (v. 17b). The point is that God could only be worshiped on the land of the people who honor that God, hence the request for the loads of earth.

O.K., one could say that this is an interesting story from an ancient time, but why should we pay attention to it 2019. Let’s take a look at this story from a symbolic, spiritual level. As we know leprosy was especially dreaded in ancient times, because there was no known cure. At a metaphorical level, it could stand for any disfigurement, not just of the body, but of the mind or spirit. It’s a good symbol for anything that in you, on you, that’s in your heart, in your mind that is dysfunctional or disfiguring. I would suggest that we’re all like Naaman in some respect: we have a disfigurement that needs healing.

Did you catch the seemingly small detail how Naaman first heard about the Israelite prophets who have healing powers? He heard it from an Israelite slave. That means that his armies had ventured into Israel and they’ve taken certain people away, including this girl. There was no one lower on the social scale than a slave. On top of that, women in antiquity were seen as second class citizens. Therefore, to be a slave girl was about as low as one could get. The point is that Naaman, the great Syrian general has the humility to listen to her. She becomes for him the bearer of the divine message.

Brothers and sisters, we never know in advance who is going to be the bearer of God’s words to us. If we’re too arrogant, sophisticated to listen, then we might miss the message. Naaman, like our Holy Father Francis, has the great virtue of humility, which sets him in the direction of healing.

We heard that the King of Israel was suspicious of him and tries to block him. The road to healing is always blocked. It is never a straight path: just ask anyone who has embraced the 12 Steps to recovery. When you start down the path of walking towards healing from your “leprosy”, know that you will encounter barriers and constraints, both externally and internally. There are always forces that are arranged against divine grace. Expect opposition and don’t be put off by it. We not only have to have the humility to be healed, but also the perseverance to hang in there because it’s a process not a one-and-done event.

Finally, when he gets his instructions from Elisha, it doesn’t make much sense at first: “What do you mean to jump n and out of a river in Israel. Aren’t there better rivers in my own country? And, how will all this jumping in a river help my leprosy?” When you are spiritually lost and when you come across a spiritual master, what the person tells you will often seem bizaare. Why? We’re debilitated—that’s what the leprosy symbolizes. When the master speaks from his rich spiritual experience, out of his wise spiritual consciousness, what he or she tells you will seem very strange. The point is: trust the process; trust the word that’s coming from the spiritual master.

So, Naaman, though his pride has been stirred, does have the humility to cooperate with grace and he does what Elisha asks. If you’re lost and you’re wrestling with leprosy that’s in you, listen to the Church with her two thousands years of accumulated wisdom. Listen even if what she says seems strange or bizaare

Finally, Naaman is cured and then he’s lead to worship—that’s why he asked for the loads of earth to take back to his own country that he might worship the true God. Worship is the whole point of life—it’s the reason fro the spiritual journey. Once we’ve been healed of our disfigurement, sin, depression, dysfunction—whatever it is—then we are free to orient our lives utterly to God where we give Him right praise. That’s why the Holy Mass is so central to Catholics because it is the “source and summit” of our Christian life. Once you’ve been cured, you’re ready for the heart of the matter, which is to give God praise and glory.

People of God, when you read the story of Naaman from 2 Kings, note his progress and see his story as a microcosm of the spiritual journey. Amen.