“Naaman, commander of the army of the Syrians . . . . . . . . . . . . was a mighty man of valour, but he was a leper. Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little maid from the land of Israel, and she waited on Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “Would that my Lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
Excerpt, First Reading, Monday 24th March 2025 – 2 KINGS 5:1-15.
So, this whole part of the Holy Bible came about because Naaman, the Syrian General was a leper.
However, what made it very more interesting is that God was going to use this ailment to get Himself known and worshipped in far away places than where He was traditionally known.
And who else to use than a little girl who was a maid to the General’s wife.
She was one of the spoils of war and she was carried off so she would one day become a concubine to one of the Syrian soldiers. Lucky enough for her, in the interim, she was made a slave in the house of the General.
Now, this is where the story gets more interesting. Naaman who is described to be such a great and mighty warrior, so highly placed and respected that he was only second to the king of Syria, descended so low to listen to and follow the counsel of a little slave girl.
This decision will eventually take him from Syria his country to Israel, a far away country.
My dear friend, at this rate, one is not alluding that we should or must take counsel from every Tom, Dick and Harry at any time and act upon it.
What we must do is that, we should be prayerful, asking God to avail us the grace to discern and know His counsel, irrespective of who it could be coming from.
Dear friend, once we accept that everyone is important, we have taken care of half of the problem. And, we, too, like Naaman, the Syrian General who was cleansed of his leprosy, we would be equally, so, positively directed.
Folks, have a fantastic day and a fulfilled week.
#Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
-Akase F. Agabo
24th March 2025.