Monday of the 3rd week of Lent
“Jesus said : ’ In truth I tell you, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country. There were many widows in Israel, I assure you, in Elijah’s day, when heaven remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged throughout the land, but Elijah was not sent to any one of these : he was sent to a widow at Zarephath,a town in Sidonia.”
Jesus warns us that if we want to follow him, we shall have to follow the same path as he tread and that things would not be easier for his disciples, especially for those who consider they know him best, for them it will be even more complicated. And so Jesus opens our eyes to the fact that in order to be a “chosen People” does not guarantee salvation, healing or purification. It is at Nazareth where he grew that Jesus pronounced such words! We can imagine Mary’s joy with him coming there, and then her disappointment felt so quickly afterwards : Jesus is announced, he comes to Nazareth where he had lived and here he is rejected. We find very well our humanity in this , the rejection of Jesus in our daily lives. Yet, all those who are waiting for God, all those who knew him ought to be touched by the grace coming from Him! It remains indeed mysterious that humanity seeking God be in such an inner turmoil! Jesus is not recognized. Fortunately Mary welcomes Him.
“And there were also many suffering from leprosy in Israel, but none of these was cured- only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the King of Israel sees Naaman the Syrian arrive to be delivered from his leprosy, he thinks he is being provoked! He gets very angry and tears his clothing.
He cries out : “Am I God, master of Life and death? Look, I am being provoked!” It is not just the King of Israel who manifests real difficulties, but Naaman the Syrian who asks for healing. “He said to himself, he will lay his hands upon me and I shall be healed.” When he heard the order to go and bathe in the Jordan, he took it badly. Pride hidden in the heart of man is revealed in this way. We always have a hard time believing, it is still like this today! This difficulty to believe seems to be so deeply engraved in our own conscience. This we see when in our own family or at work or around us we should take a decision, and we take a step back as if we are saying :“Not worth making an effort, no prophet is welcomed in his own country!” We have the best excuse not to bear witness, we avoid sustaining our work colleagues, or we fail to seek reconciliation with those whom we know well.
“They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him off the cliff, but Jesus passed straight through the crowd and walked away.”
Jesus is the prophet par excellence, the Savior everyone is waiting for; all the prophets are accomplished with Him. But, at the time of Elijah and Elyse, Jesus is not received amongst his own people, for it is they, “filled with anger” who throw him out of the town. The prophet is the one who
speaks in the name of someone else, who bears the message of someone else. For the Hebrews, prophets were men sent by God to announce either by words, either by signs, the coming of the Saviour, the message of salvation, of peace and of hope. By the act of our baptism, each one of us is also called to become a prophet. We should listen to God’s Word with a sincere, open heart. We ought to be touched in our own life by the Word of God, consecrate time to meditate it, and to pray with this Living Word. May Mary, Queen of the prophets, guide us on our way. The way of God is a way of Life, of Light and of Love. we are called to remain in grace. The gift of God is grace, these words tell us about this free, gracious reality. We ask God that we be vigilant so as to dwell in his Love.