Simple Thing

Greetings on this the Monday of the Third Week of Lent
Readings: 2 Kgs 5:1-15ab; PS 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4; Lk 4:24-30
Notes: In our first reading and the gospel portion they share a common theme.

Just trust the Lord.

What the Lord asks of us is simple really:

• to act justly.
• to trust the Lord.

Naaman got it, after some prompting.

First reading
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.

Responsorial Psalm
Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?

We really do thirst for the Lord and to be in relationship with him.
Trust he feels the same way.

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

Gospel Portion
Jesus uses the example of two foreigners trusting the Lord.

• Elijah’s widow.
• Elisha’s military commander.

His purpose is to call out all of us who know something about him but really refuse to actually know him.

How do we know we are distant from the Lord?

• Easily aroused to anger is a big sign of distance.
• The idea of foreigners being close to the Lord instead of who ‘own’ the Lord enrages.
• Yikes!

Do we sometimes do the same?

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.

How do you feel when the Lord helps your enemy, your foreigner?

• act justly.
• trust the Lord.

Really it’s a simple thing.

Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry