March 21st, by Gabriel Montero: Freshman

March 21, 2022
Gabriel Montero: Freshman
2 Kings 5:1-15ab/Lk 4:24-30
One thing about today’s readings is that they are tied together. The First Reading is the account
of the healing of Naaman.  In the Gospel, Jesus visits His hometown of Nazareth and mentions
Naaman as an example of how foreigners are more open to the healing power of God than the
local people. The account from 2 Kings is of Naaman the Aramean/Syrian who had leprosy.  We
hear how he was led to seek help from the prophet Elisha.  Because Naaman followed the
directions, he was cured of his leprosy.
Our responsorial psalm includes the phrase: “My soul is thirsting for the living God.”  This
refrain should be our theme for today and especially for Lent and for our life. In the Gospel
passage, Jesus is teaching in Nazareth, but He is not able to proclaim the Good News through
word or deed because the people are not open to hearing the divine message as Jesus
communicates it.  They think that they know Who Jesus is.  They close their minds to His real
identity.
What do these readings have in common?  Sure, there is the obvious link in the Gospel where
Jesus says, “Recall, too, the many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one
was cured except Naaman the Syrian.”  As I contemplated the readings, I saw an even closer link
and a message for me.
To me this story is the story of trusting in God’s presence Who is active in our lives.  God is
always there working through the circumstances of our life, especially through people that he
sends to us.  If we open our eyes, that is the eyes of faith, we will see God’s hand at work in the
events of our daily living and through the people we encounter in life. Jesus in the Gospel refers
to the act of faith by Naaman, the foreigner, and his being healed because he believed in God’s
healing presence. 
Jesus reminds the people of His hometown of Nazareth that they are taking Him for granted. 
They think they know Him because Jesus has grown up in their midst.  They cannot believe that
God is working in Jesus, much less that He could be the Son of God.  Their lack of faith prevents
them from experiencing the wonders of God as proclaimed by Jesus in His words and deeds.  
Sometimes, we take God for granted. Sometimes we take people for granted as well. At one
point in our life, we have looked down on people who God sends to us to bring the healing
presence of God to us. Unknowingly, when we take people for granted, they will not be able to
provide us with the healing presence of God that we deeply desire. People have at different times
walked out of our life because of the way we treated them not knowing that they are messengers
of God. Remember that in the three years of Jesus ministry, he did not perform any other serious
miracles in Nazareth because of the way the people treated him at the beginning of his earthly
ministry which is expressed in the readings today.
The personal question I want us to reflect today is:  How do I see God in the ordinary events of
my daily life?  What prevents me from being more aware of God’s presence through the people

God sends my way every day? How can I be to others a witness of God’s healing presence in
their lives?