Holy Spirit of God help me wash away the leprosy of sin in the rivers of your mercy…

www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Kings+5%3A1-15&version=NIV
 
2 Kings 5:1-15
 
Like leprosy of the body, seeds of sin silently enter my soul through cuts and bruises that have compromised the ‘skin’ of my being. Traumas of all kinds can leave wounds in our hearts and minds that are particularly susceptible to the nerve-destroying disease, that eventually numbs all senses and extremities, and finally destroys the integrity of one’s being, - as a son or daughter of God. Naaman, the Syrian commander contracted leprosy of the body, and was greatly offended when the God-man Elisha sent his servant to tell him to wash in the Jordon River seven times. How could something so simple as washing work? But encouraged by his servants to humbly follow the Prophet’s guidance, Naaman swallowed his pride and did as he was told. As he simply dipped himself seven times in the quiet splashing of the waters of the Jordan, his mind was cleansed of his self-righteousness, his heart was aligned with the purity of the holy, his soul was healed of its hopelessness and despair and his skin that harbored the spots of leprosy was made whole again. During these 40 days of Lent, we will do well to notice the spots of the leprosy of sin that have invaded, and numbed, the ‘skin’ of our souls through the wounds and wonders of this life. Like Naaman, we will do well to seek out the Holy remedies of God (Repentance, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and fasting and penance) and humbly wash ourselves in them – ‘seven times’, that is repeatedly.  Then we will be able to rejoice with all God’s people on earth at Easter, that by the wounds of the crucified Christ we are healed, and by his rising from tomb, we are raised to life again. Will I, like Naaman, notice my maladies, seek out the wisdom of following Jesus, and ‘seven times’ wash away the leprosy of sin in the rivers of God’s Grace?  Holy Spirit of God help me wash away the leprosy of sin in the rivers of God’s mercy.
 
As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.   (Psalm 50:16,23)
 
Wash me more and more from my sins, and cleanse me from all unrighteousness… Wash me, O God, and I shall be whiter than snow.
King David, Psalm 51
 
For a discussion of ‘leprosy of the soul’, see Dr. Paul Brand’s book, written with Philip Yancey, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
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