1ST READING
Many
of our acts of faith are very ordinary. They are repeated time and
again, both within the context of our faith and outside it. Washing in
the river is something millions of people do every day. However, Elijah
has spoken the Word of God about Naaman’s washing and they become
cleansing — just as the priest’s words during the consecration at Mass
carry the miracle that occurs. God has the power to transform our simple
actions into miraculous ones.
2 Kings 5:1-15
1 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. 2 Now the Arameans had captured in a raid on the land of Israel a little girl, who became the servant of Naaman’s wife. 3 “If
only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria,” she
said to her mistress, “he would cure him of his leprosy.” 4 Naaman went and told his lord just what the slave girl from the land of Israel had said. 5 “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. 6 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.” 7 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!” 8 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.” 9 Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 The prophet sent him the message: “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean.” 11 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. 12 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. 13 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.” 14 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. 15 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.”
P S A L M
Psalm 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4
R: Athirst is my soul for the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God.
1 [2] As the hind longs for the running waters, so my soul longs for you, O God. (R) 2 [3] Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God? (R) 43:3 Send forth your light and your fidelity; they shall lead me on and bring me to your holy mountain, to your dwelling-place. (R) 4
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)
GOSPEL
Sometimes
I think Jesus says what He says just to get a reaction from the people —
to get them thinking about what He has been doing and saying. Jesus
must have known that His words would be controversial but He said them
anyway because they force His listeners to confront their own beliefs.
Their violent reaction to His words indicate they are confronted and don’t really know what to say. They need to repent of their unbelief but are not yet ready to do this.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
I hope in the Lord, I trust in his word; with him there is kindness and plenteous redemption.
Luke 4:24-30
24 Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth: “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. 25 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. 26 It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27 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.” 28 When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. 29 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. 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
think: God has the power to transform our simple actions into miraculous ones.
T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST
Thank You Lord for: __________________
____________________________________
God’s special verse/thought for me today_
_____________________________________
READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Genesis 4-6
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