LENT DAY 17: SICKNESS IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS NEITHER IS FAITH. (Homily for February 29, 2016. Monday of the Third Week of Lent)


Bible Study:  2 kings 5, 1 to 15. Luke 4, 24 to 30.


In our first reading this morning, we read about an army general who had everything going on well for him, he was a man of honour, a valiant fighter and rich in material wealth. However, he was also a leper. Usually the sickness of leprosy is one that is mostly found among the poorest of the poor in the society and lepers are treated with the least possible dignity and even quarantined. How come a rich man like Naaman contacted the disease?

That people experience sickness, suffering and pain is a mystery no one is yet to explain. Yesterday, Jesus made us understand that those who suffer much are not necessarily greater sinners than any of us meaning that it is not because of his sins that Naaman was afflicted with leprosy. The truth is that no one has it all. We all have our little deficiencies here and there, none of us has got a perfect life. Never envy anyone from a distance because you never can tell what is hidden behind that smile, or that super beautiful face, or that show of wealth as the case may be.

Just as sickness is no respecter of persons, faith does not care who you are or where you come from. Faith does not care about your age, your language, your gender, and the position you hold in society. Faith is the ability to obey the voice of God without questioning the medium or the nature of the command. For Naaman, his test of faith was to obey the voice of God speaking through the prophet Elisha and bathe seven times in the Jordan.

Like Naaman, we tend to question God’s instruction at times, we think we know better or that God’s mouthpiece (the prophet) might just be mistaken. First Naaman is disappointed that Elisha did not come out of his house to invoke healing directly on him. Again he feels insulted that of all the clean rivers in Syria, it is the Jordan Elisha asks him to bathe in. Thanks to the slave girl’s intervention, Naaman would have gone home with leprosy still in him. At least, Naaman did not consider himself too big or too important to listen to her. Faith demands humility!

Coming to the Gospel passage, we find a people who found it difficult to accept the authenticity of Jesus as a prophet because they knew everything about him and watched him grow before their very eyes. They lacked Faith and failed to see him as God’s mouthpiece not to mention seeing him as God’s own Son.

Just as faith does not care if one is a foreigner or not, faith does not also care if one claims to be a son of the soil. As long as you believe in God and pray, be sure that God will reward you for your faith. God is neither a politician nor is he tribalistic.


Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, teach me not to envy others nor to see myself as better than anyone else but may my faith grow deeper and deeper in you daily. Amen.

God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy new week. And Happy New Month in advance!


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