Monday of the 3rd Week of Lent

Misunderstandings and ill-feelings sometimes occur when people do not communicate well or when people do not get the actual message. Sometimes the misunderstanding could be because the one who receives the message does not know or is not aware that the message is not for him or her; sometimes it could be misinterpreted due to limitations in language (as some say, "lost in translation"); sometimes it could simply be because the person who receives the message is edgy or quite easily aroused over the smallest things, possibly due to pride, fear, or even lacking of trust; sometimes it could just be a case of not listening, thinking and executing, but just hearing and doing.

When the king of Aram sent Naaman to the king of Israel, the message given to him in the form of a letter was actually meant for Elisha, but possibly due to a misunderstanding of the message, the king of Israel thought that the king of Aram was trying to pick a quarrel with him, since he tore his garments and exclaimed: "Am I a god to give death and life,’ he said ‘that he sends a man to me and asks me to cure him of his leprosy? Listen to this, and take note of it and see how he intends to pick a quarrel with me." But Elisha admonished the king for doing such a silly thing, called Naaman to come to him, and had Naaman cured after Naaman immersed himself seven times in the Jordan. This led Naaman to realise "that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel."

Sometimes we too do not listen carefully to what we are told. We just hear and scoot off, only to come back feeling sheepish or embarrassed for not getting the gist of the message. Just as the king of Israel was too quick to jump into conclusions, Naaman himself too was at first too quick to jump into conclusions when he felt Elisha was not willing to cure him directly or immediately. It was only after he did what Elisha told him that Naaman was completely cured.

What about us? Do we take time and effort to listen carefully to what we are told? Do we discern carefully what God is telling us? Sometimes it just takes a bit of patience, humility and perseverance to truly understand the message. Let us not so easily jump the gun or jump into conclusions, so that we will be crystal clear on what we have listened.