Lenten Daily Reflections Eighteenth Day "Crossing Borders" Monday, March 9, 2015

Crossing the Borders:

The story of the healing of Naaman is truly a work of pure grace. Grace simply means a ‘unmerited favor’. He did not deserve it and did not work for it either. 

He simply thought he could ‘buy’ healing with his money, possession, and power. God is not for sale neither is grace cheap. It is priceless and precious. 

A lot of people come to Church, or it’s institutions to ask for healing, renewal, and miracle but very often not willing to pay the price for it. 

They are not willing to sacrifice for it. They want everything for free from the Church. 

Grace is not cheap. 

The price that Namaan had to pay was humble submission to the Higher power, the Power that comes beyond the borders of Syria, beyond the rivers of Damascus for healing. 

He had to come down from his ‘high horses’ to receive healing of his leprosy from a simple prophet of Israel and from his simple instruction of washing himself seven times in the rivers of Jordan.  

Naaman thought he had better rivers in Syria and did not want to place his trust in the powers of the God of Israel. 

That’s when the ‘amazing grace’ led him to take instructions from his servants and allowed himself to plunge into the waters of Jordan and emerged healed and whole. 

The question is are you willing to leap into the hands of a God whom you may not know well enough? 

Are you willing to be ‘awed’ by and surprised by this God of “amazing grace”?

During this lent are you willing to be ‘whipped’ by the mercy of God who is extravagant in His love.  

(Vatican Radio) God saves "a repentant heart," while he who does not trust in Him draws "condemnation" upon himself. This message was at the heart of Pope Francis’s homily during morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta.

Humility saves man in God’s eyes, 

                                       while pride is a loser. 

The key lies in the heart. The heart of a humble person is open, it knows repentance, it accepts correction and trusts in God.

The heart of the proud person is the exact opposite: it is arrogant, closed, knows no shame, it is impervious to God's voice. 

The reading from the Book of the prophet Zephaniah and from the Gospel of the day guide Pope Francis in a parallel reflection. Both texts, he notes, speak of a "judgment" upon which salvation and condemnation depend.

HUMILITY, THE ONLY PATH

The situation described by the prophet Zephaniah is that of a 

rebellious city in which, however, there is a group of people 

who repent of their sins: this group, the Pope said, is the 

"people of God" possesses the "three characteristics" of 

"humility, poverty, and trust in the Lord." But in the city 

there are also those, Francis says, who "do not accept 

correction, they do not trust in the Lord." They will be 

condemned:

"These people cannot receive Salvation. They are closed to 

Salvation. ‘I will leave within you

the meek and humble; they will trust in the name of the 

Lord’ throughout their lives. And that is still valid today, isn’t 

it? When we look at the holy people of God that is humble, 

that has its riches in its faith in the Lord, in its trust in the 

Lord - the humble, poor people that trust in the Lord: these 

are the ones who are saved and this is the way of the Church, 

isn’t it? This is the path I must follow, not the path in which I 

do not listen to His voice, do not accept correction and do not 

trust in the Lord. "

SINCERELY REPENTANT, NOT HYPOCRITES

The scene of the Gospel tells of the contrast between two 

sons invited by their father to work in the vineyard. The first 

refuses, but then repents and goes to work in the vineyard; 

the second says yes to the father but actually deceives him. 

Jesus tells this story to the chief priests and the elders of the 

people stating clearly that it is they who have not wanted to 

listen to the voice of God through John and that is why the 

Kingdom of Heaven will be entered, not by them but by tax 

collectors and prostitutes who did believe John. And the 

scandal provoked by this statement, Pope Francis said, is 

identical to that of many Christians who feel "pure" just 

because they go to Mass and receive communion. But God, 

he says, needs much more:

"If your heart is not a repentant heart, if you do not listen to 

the Lord, if you don’t accept correction and you do not trust 

in Him, your heart is unrepentant. These hypocrites who 

were scandalized by what Jesus said about the tax collectors 

and the prostitutes, but then secretly approached them to 

vent their passion or to do business - but all in secrecy - were 

pure! The Lord does not want them. "

OFFER YOUR SINS

This judgment "gives us hope" - Pope Francis assured the 

faithful - provided, he concludes, that we have the courage 

to open our hearts to God without reserve, giving Him even 

the "list" of our sins. And in explanation of these words the 

Pope recalled the story of the Saint who thought he had 

given everything to the Lord, with extreme generosity:

"He listened to the Lord, he always followed His will, he 

gave to the Lord, and the Lord said to him: 'there is still one 

thing you have not given me’. And the poor man who was 

good said: 'But, Lord, what is it that I have not given you? I 

have given you my life, I work for the poor, I work for 

catechesis, I work here, I work there ... ‘ 'But there is 

something you have not  given me yet' .- 'What is it Lord? 

'Your sins'. When we will be able to say to the Lord: 'Lord, 

these are my sins – they are not his or hers, they are mine… 

They are mine. Take them and I will be saved'- when we will 

be able to do this we will be that people, ‘that meek and 

humble people', that trusts in the Lord's name. May the Lord 

grant us this grace. "

 (Linda Bordoni)