2
Kings 5:1-15 / Luke 4:24-30
God is the God of all people.
Sometimes
people become so preoccupied with their own problems that they tend to see only
themselves.
Their
vision shrinks and they forget that there are other people in the world. That
happened to the Jewish nation, as a whole, in the years after the return from
exile. The Jews turned in upon themselves and, in the process, made God over
into their own image and likeness. They made him into a nationalistic God who
had eyes only for his Chosen People.
Of
course, prophets like Elijah and Elisha had warned the nation earlier about
this tendency, but it’s something that needs to be repeated. That’s what Jesus
does in today’s gospel.
He
repeats an old teaching that the people didn't want to hear.
****
Do we tend to let
our personal problems blind us to other people’s bigger problems?
“We see things not
as they are, but as we are.” H. M. Tomlinson (ML)
*****
One
of the things that we really dislike and which stresses us out is to be
confronted with a challenge and we have no idea as to how to get out of it. It
might be an irritated customer that keeps hounding us for a refund and we get
caught between the customer and the company's policy. Or it might be our boss
who gives us an assignment that is beyond our capabilities and knowledge. In
such situations, we can get all flustered up and start to rant and vent out our
frustrations.
Such was the case with the king of Israel in the 1st reading. The king of
Aram sent him a letter to ask him to cure his servant Naaman of his leprosy.
The reaction of the king of Israel was to tear his garments and rant and
vent at the letter and said, "Am I a god to give death and life that he
sends a man to me and asks me to cure him of his leprosy?"
Well the king of Israel may have admitted that he was not a god. But he
could also have acknowledged that there is the God of Israel whom he can turn
to. And prophet Elisha reminded him of this.
It is quite surprising and amazing to see how a nation that had a God who
was so near to them would not have turned to God when confronted with
challenges and difficulties.
That was what Jesus told the people in the synagogue in Nazara. God had
sent prophets after prophets and they did not listen. Ironically it was the
outsiders who listened to the prophets.
Let us acknowledge the presence of God who is
so near to us and unload all our worries on to Him because He is taking care of
us. And let us also carry out the prophetic mission of witnessing to His
presence in our world. (SY)