Peace be with you.
Fr. Adam, my monk spiritual director, once told me a story about something that happened in April of 2005, during the period of time after the death of Pope John Paul II and before the election of Pope Benedict. He was meeting with the pastor of a protestant megachurch to do spiritual direction for his retreat. At the beginning of their session, Fr. Adam admitted that he was kind of obsessed with the process of choosing the next pope. The pastor said something about how it was going to be really hard to find a good replacement, someone as dynamic and energetic, as John Paul had been in his youth. Fr. Adam responded by telling him that actually we tend to avoid people with big personalities in leadership positions. We don’t want a movie star pope because he pulls focus from Jesus instead of drawing people to him.
The longer I’m a priest and the more I read scripture, the more I tend to agree with Fr. Adam. Look, for instance, at the first reading of today’s Mass. Now, before I begin, yes this is gonna be another one of those homilies where I’m gonna refer to more than what we just read for Mass. It’s gonna be a cold day tomorrow, so maybe it’d be good to spend some time reading and praying over the entirety of Second Kings chapter 5. It starts by telling us about this military commander named Naaman who is a trusted adviser of his King, the King of Syria, one of the Israelites' adversaries. Naaman is powerful enough to have servants and a wonderful wife but he also has a skin condition referred to as leprosy, which is ironic considering Naaman’s name means pleasant or beautiful.
One of the servants Naaman acquired in a battle with Israel is an unnamed Israelite girl, who informs Naaman that he should go to Israel and meet Elisha, God’s prophet, in order to be cured. We find out, in the course of the story, just how complicated this is because Syria has its own gods and their own religious services led by their own priests and prophets. Naaman has, apparently, gone to all of these people but they’ve been unable to cure him. So, Naaman is, understandably desperate. He goes to his King who gives him permission to approach the King of Israel and ask for permission to approach Elisha.
Setting aside the details of some political shenanigans, eventually, Naaman gets from permission from the King of Israel to go to Elisha. The prophet stays inside his house in prayer and sends a servant to tell Naaman to go bathe in the Jordan River. Naaman is insulted, at first, because Elisha refused to meet him and pray over him , presumably like his own prophets have done, and he can’t understand why he should bathe in the Jordan, considering the rivers in Syria are better than this dirty river. Still, one of his men says to him, “My father, if the prophet told you to do something extraordinary (or difficult), would you not do it? All the more since he told you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” I love this. I’ve been there. Someone asks me to do something unexpected and I act like it’s much harder than it is simply because I don’t entirely believe they’re right. I called Dubuque Religious Company on Friday to ask about the name of someone to refurbish some of the statues that have faded and have some of the plaster falling off. Tim, the owner, gave me a name and phone number of someone he thought could do it. It took me an hour and a half to convince myself to actually call the person. How would I know if the person is good at his job and is, at least not going to ruin these statues? Am I going to have to drive somewhere and see what he’s done before? Should I bring someone with me? Who would that be? How much is it going to cost? What if we can only afford one or two statues, what should be first? Do I need to convene a statue renovation committee to decide which should go first? Do I need to talk to the Archdiocese renovation committee and get their recommendation? Do I need to find out who donated the money for the statue in the first place and ask permission from their relatives to refurbish them? I had almost convinced myself that it wasn’t even worth the phone call because the project was too complicated when the voice of reason cut through and said it’s just a phone call.
It’s just washing in the Jordan River. Naaman does it, plunging himself seven times, as instructed, and he’s cured. He goes back to Elisha to thank him for the healing. Elisha greets him and Naaman says he’s not only been cured, but he’s been converted. He now only believes in Elisha’s God, the one true God, though, as a Syrian military officer, he’s going to have to pretend to bend down to the god of thunder, the chief god of Syria. Naaman offers all kinds of silver, gold, and clothing to Elisha, who refuses them. Some believe the prophet refused them because he realized he didn’t do anything, that is was god’s work all along. I agree but I think something deeper also happens because of his refusal.
You see, since Naaman wants to worship the one t4rue God, and a god’s dominion is tied to a specific location, Naaman brings two mule loads of dirt back to his home. Now, remember that little Israelite servant girl who recommended Naaman approach Israel’s prophet in the first place? She’s a person of faith and humility who lives in the difficult situation of being far away from the land of her God. Yet, because Elisha refused the gifts and Naaman, instead, brings these two loads of Isralite soil back to his house, she will be able to pray to the God of her fathers on their soil.
I hear in this the importance of listening to the little ones, whether that be people who are younger or people who are poor, or people who have less power than us. The little ones tend to be the ones who are easiest to ignore because they aren’t the squeaky wheels or the most beautiful person in the room. But, God speaks and acts through them more often than we expect. Think of the times we’ve had to stop ourselves from swearing because there were little ears in the room. Aren’t they really helping us be holier than we’d normally be if they weren’t there? Or think about the times when a person with special needs makes a suggestion to solve a problem that we either don’t take seriously or don’t entirely understand that turns out to be the exact right thing to do if we’d just paid attention in the first place. When we listen to the little ones, we humble ourselves and open ourselves up to the possibility that God can do amazing things with and for us. We become humble ourselves by listening to the most humble around us. Let’s all stop seeking to be a dynamic celebrity that everyone listens to and seek to be like God’s little ones.
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