3RD WEEK OF LENT

If [he] had told you to do something extraordinary, would you not have done it? 

Naaman wasn’t an outcast. Despite his disease, he had met with the king of Israel, after all. So his “leprosy” was likely some other disfiguring skin condition and not actually Hansen’s disease. But any affliction can drive a person to great lengths, and this commander of the army of Aram was prepared to go to great lengths. What he wasn’t prepared for was a simple cure!

We’ve all felt something of Naaman’s desperation. Our relationship struggles, persistent sin patterns, or physical or emotional illnesses can seem overwhelming—too big, too complicated, too painful to ever be resolved. But God knows that you need healing, and nothing is beyond his ability to heal, to reconcile, and to restore. He knows the best way for you to be healed (though it might not look like what you expect), and he wants to make it simple for you too.

One “simple” avenue for healing is the sacraments, which “give growth and healing to Christ’s members” (Catechism, 798). In the Sacrament of the Anointing, God gives special grace to restore and strengthen you when you are tried by illness (1510–11). In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God can heal you of every kind of sin, whether jealousy, anger, or resentment, and bring you peace as you are reconciled to him (1496). And in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus can fill you with grace, strengthen your love for God and neighbor, and help you let go of harmful behaviors (1323, 1394).

Not all of us need physical healing, but everyone needs spiritual healing. This week, set aside any disdain for the “simple cure” and your own thoughts of how God ought to heal. Let nothing keep you from the grace he offers in the sacraments. Consider going to daily Mass or Confession. Trust your Father to meet you there with the balm of mercy and grace and the strength to be made whole. Trust him to provide that simple cure.

“Lord, I need your healing today.”

Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4
Luke 4:24-30
2 Kings 5:1-15