Let us meditate the beautiful story of Naaman, commander of
the army of the king of Syria. He was a mighty man of valour, but he was a
leper. He was such a humble man that even his servants could advise him. It was
advice given by his servant girl that made him embark on the journey to meet
Elisha. On getting to Israel, he thought that such great power would be with
the King. So, in his childlike manner he went straight to the king. Unfortunately,
the king did not know anything about curing leprosy. On getting to Elisha’s
house, the prophet did not come out but sent a servant to tell him to go and bathe
in the River Jordan seven times. Naaman’s humility failed him at this time, and
he stood on his pride in anger, for he expected a special recognition and
treatment.
We see here that while this army commander was humble in
listening, even to his servants, honor and recognition were his weaknesses. From a
person’s particular attachments, pride germinates. Imagine how much obstacle
pride can be to the man knocking at the door of divine grace. However, Naaman
was lucky that he was humble enough to listen to servant who urged him to obey the
message from Elisha. At the end he was cleansed, and he glorified God, saying, “Behold,
I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel.”
Humility is the gateway to divine blessings. At his home
town of Nazareth, the people stood on their pride of being familiar with Jesus.
He said to them, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own
country.” Thus, they denied themselves the prophetic blessings. That was why
among all the lepers in Israel during the time of prophet Elisha, only Naaman
the Syrian was cleansed. Hence, we thank God for this season of Lent, which
gives us the special opportunity to detach ourselves from persons and things
through fasting and abstinence, so that we can be humble, and glorify God who
cleanses and blesses us. Amen.
Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Monday March 13th, 2023.
20th Lenten meditation
