the man who knew too much
"Now I know..." —2 Kings 5:15
As sovereign ruler of the nation, King Joram of Israel was in the right position to know God's power. He had access to any information he needed. Maybe he had too much information: when Naaman approached him to find God's healing, Joram presumed the king of Aram wanted to provoke him (2 Kgs 5:7). As a captured slave, the little orphaned, pre-teen girl was seemingly not in a position to know the power and strength of God. Guess which of the two knew that there was a healing prophet in the land of Israel? God reveals to the childlike what He hides from the wise and the learned (Lk 10:21).
As commander of the Aramean army, Naaman had the intellect and resources to understand the regional geography and the probability of pure water in Aram and Israel (2 Kgs 5:12). Naaman's servants probably knew only what they needed to know to perform menial tasks. Guess who understood the relationship between humility and healing?
Certainly God wants our minds to develop and be renewed (Rm 12:2), since He wants us to love Him with all our mind (Lk 10:27). However, God's ways are not our ways (Is 55:8-9). If a person with terminal cancer or aids asked you to pray with them for God's healing today, how would you react? Would you be flustered and threatened like Joram, angered like Naaman, or would you be as ready as the servant girl and Naaman's servants? Get humble. Get ready. Receive "the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16).
Prayer: Father, may I humble myself and thus "be ever ready" to lead people to You (1 Pt 3:15).
Promise: "Send forth Your light and Your fidelity; they shall lead me on." —Ps 43:3
Praise: Father Clyde had such a love for the Eucharist that, even while lying on his deathbed, he asked for his Mass kit, in the hopes that he might revive and be prepared to celebrate Mass.
Reference: (This teaching was submitted by one of our editors.)
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, August 1, 2002
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, August 7, 2002