In the first reading for mass today, the Israelites were being severely beaten in battle with the Philistines. Four thousand men were killed in the battle and things looked pretty dim. They started grumbling against God, “Why has the Lord permitted us to be defeated today by the Philistines?” They were the chosen people, shouldn’t God be on their side? They were God’s own people, why wasn’t He there helping them?
Then, the Israelites got this bright idea to go get the ark of the covenant and bring it into the battle with them. They took matters into their own hands and brought the ark of the covenant right into their camp. Maybe they thought if God was with them, they would be unstoppable. Or, maybe they thought the ark of the covenant was like a lucky charm, it held magical powers that would protect them, just from it’s very presence.
If nothing else, the ark of the covenant did boost the morale of the men who were fighting, and scare the enemy, but it really was a cheap tactic. God isn’t a lucky charm, and He isn’t manipulated by men. The Israelites learned a very hard lesson about the nature of God, because in the end they lost thirty thousand men and the ark of the covenant was lost in the battle as well. It couldn’t have turned out any worse than this. God will not be manipulated like this. The Israeli army would have been much better off, if they had simply fallen on their knees and prayed to God, asking for His help. All they did was grumble against God and then try to force Him to help them in battle.
At least the leper had the right idea in today’s gospel. He knelt down and asked Jesus to heal him. Jesus was moved with pity when the leper knelt before him and in his compassion, he healed the leper. Before we praise the virtues of this man too much though, we should realize that he disobeyed the Lord. Evidently, he got what he wanted. The leper was cured. He would be important and people would notice him, because of this miracle he had received. So, even though Christ specifically told him not to tell anyone, the leper did. He ran around town telling everyone about the miracle he had received from the Lord. What an ungrateful leper! The only thing Jesus asked in return for the miracle was to keep quite about it, and the leper didn’t have enough respect for the man who gave him the miracle, to heed his words.
As a result of the lack of respect this leper who told everyone about the miracle, Jesus had to remain outside of the city in deserted places so he wouldn’t be mobbed by the crowd.
The Israelites and the leper was well, showed great disrespect for God and for His son. They only wanted to use God for their own selfish reasons. Do we try to use God for our own purposes sometimes too? Since we faithfully go to mass every week, doesn’t God owe it to us to answer our prayers and give us what we want?
Sometimes people act like teenagers or young adults who do not want to spend time with their parents, but only come to them when they need money or car keys. Kids will often try to manipulate their parents, to get what they want too, but parents usually see right through them. God is the same way with us too. It would be far better to spend time with God in prayer, and Jesus at mass or adoration, than to keep asking them for things all the time. Good parents, siblings and friends are more apt to do things for you if you have a good relationship with them, but even then it shouldn’t be expected.
We don’t like to be used by other people, and neither does God. Maybe today, we could just spend time in the Lord’s presence in prayer, at mass or in adoration, and not ask for anything for once. Just enjoy his company. We love the giver of the gift, more than His gifts.
