It must be God

Mass Readings: February 25

First: 2 Kings 5:1-15
Resp: Psalms 42:2-3; 43:3-4
Gospel: Luke 4:24-30


2Kings 5:12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage.

It is a problem of humility. Jesus says that a prophet is not accepted in his own home town. Naaman didn't like Elisha's simple solution to his problem. We think that to cure our situation we must have someone or something that is not common. It must be special or it isn't good enough.
Though on the surface it may not be obvious, this is really a pride problem. If the cure to our trouble is so simple that common water, or one of our own people can be a solution, then certainly we should be able to solve our problems by our selves. This is pride. God confounds the mighty with the weak and simple. That way we know it is from God. If it was special water, then we could credit the water. But if it is common water, then it must be God. And if it must be God, then we must go to Him. Sometimes that is hard to accept.

Father, help me to get past my pride. You came as a simple infant child that would one day bleed and die like any other man. Yet, in this man we find you and our salvation. He was one of us. But it must be you.

Amen