March 13, 2023

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,

except in Israel.”

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

 

 

Setting Aside Our Expectations

Naaman’s struggle with leprosy illustrates how we can sometimes set expectations of how God labors for us.  Naaman balks at the remedy the prophet Elisha offers, expecting perhaps a dramatic display to effect the cure. But a simple ordinary washing in the river Jordan brought about his healing. 

We can entertain expectations, like Naaman, of how our loving God will act.  God’s work in us might not always be found in extraordinary interventions but in seemingly ordinary experiences.  When confronted by a tough situation, perhaps an illness, a major disappointment or setback, or a rocky relationship with someone, we may desire that God almost miraculously make it all right. We need to be alert, however, to how God is truly acting. God may offer us a simple insight, inviting us to a change of our perspective, a small adjustment in our attitude, or a call to take the initiative in offering forgiveness.  

During Lent, let us be open to putting aside our own expectations of how God wants to work in our lives and seek to follow the way God is pointing out to us. 

—Fr. David Godleski, SJ, is a Jesuit priest of the Midwest Province who serves as the minister and treasurer for the Jesuit Community at Loyola University Chicago and is a board member of the Ignatian Spirituality Project.

 

Prayer 

Make known to me your ways, LORD;
teach me your paths. 
Guide me by your fidelity and teach me,
for you are God my savior,
for you I wait all the day long.
Remember your compassion and your mercy, O LORD,
for they are ages old.

—Psalm 26: 4-6

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