28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
2 Kings 5:14-17 | Psalm 97:1-4 | 2 Timothy 2:8-13 | Luke 17:11-19
Then Naaman said, ‘Since your answer is “No,” allow your servant to be given as much earth as two mules may carry, because your servant will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any god except the Lord.’ (2 Kings 5:17)
Naaman’s request had always puzzled me: Why would two mule-loads of earth be so important to him?
It wasn’t till I decided to do some research and pondering that I realized why: The earth he’s asking for is the soil of the Holy Land. Believing itself to be holy, he probably meant to build an altar to the Lord upon that soil back in his home land of Syria.
We too place great store in symbols, and so we take mementos of nature from the foreign lands through which we journey, things that strike us mentally or spiritually. During my recent UK Catholic tour, I noticed one of my fellow travelers carefully placing a leaf from some native tree or shrub in her book, and of course the holy water of Knock was a popular draw.
This is the story of my memento from that trip…
✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞
I was walking along the road to Lindisfarne Castle, about a half hour behind the rest of the group but steadily making up time.
It’s a long road to Lindisfarne,
A-winding steep and high…
When I reached the gate to the Castle proper…
Lift Up Your Head, Ye Mighty Gate!
I realized that I didn’t have enough time to go all the way up, walk around, and still make it back for the noonday lunch.
Alas, poor castle, I hardly knew ye…
So I decided to take the road less traveled, one that went around the side of the castle hill…
“Go left, young man, go left and see what you can see.” – (not) Horace Greeley
to behold the rear end of the castle…
And a mighty fine rear end it be.
and trip over a small stone…
Hang on, haven’t we seen this before?
whereupon I felt an irresistible compulsion to take a photo, pick it up…and bring it home.
Ta-da!
Now, as stones go, this isn’t a particularly attractive specimen…
Meh. Looks like an asteroid, perhaps.
but it has several attributes that remind me of my own faith journey:
- It’s very pitted and mottled.
The many battles I’ve waged with the evil side of myself have left serious internal scars and scorch marks… - It’s worn smooth.
…but the constant abrasion has eroded most of my bad behavior and left me as a mostly presentable Catholic… - There’s a weird orange ring round one end.
…who knows not to take himself too seriously, lest pride be his downfall.
Mostly, though, it was the symbolism of this pale stone “rising above” and “holding out” against the dark soil and rocks that drew me to it, a stark reminder of St. Paul’s words in today’s second reading:
If we have died with him, then we shall live with him.
If we hold firm, then we shall reign with him.
If we disown him, then he will disown us.
We may be unfaithful, but he is always faithful,
for he cannot disown his own self. (2 Timothy 2:11-13)
Amen.