6/5/2015 – Vacation Bible School Mass – 2 Kings 5:1-14, John 14:1-3, Psalm 37

A reading from the Second Book of Kings:

      Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram, was highly esteemed and respected by his master, for through him the Lord had brought victory to Aram. But valiant as he was, the man was a leper.

         Now the Arameans had captured from the land of Israel in a raid a little girl, who became the servant of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

      Naaman went and told his master, “This is what the girl from the land of Israel said.”  The king of Aram said, “Go. I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman set out, taking along ten silver talents, six thousand gold pieces, and ten festal garments. He brought the king of Israel the letter, which read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

       When he read the letter, the king of Israel tore his garments and exclaimed: “Am I a god with power over life and death, that this man should send someone for me to cure him of leprosy? Take note! You can see he is only looking for a quarrel with me!”  When Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent word to the king: “Why have you torn your garments? Let him come to me and find out that there is a prophet in Israel.”

      Naaman came with his horses and chariot and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent him the message: “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean.”  But Naaman went away angry, saying, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand there to call on the name of the LORD his God, and would move his hand over the place, and thus cure the leprous spot.  Are not the rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be cleansed?” With this, he turned about in anger and left.

       But his servants came up and reasoned with him: “My father, if the prophet told you to do something extraordinary, would you not do it? All the more since he told you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”  So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

The word of the Lord

Responsorial Psalm - 

Response: Lord, teach me your ways.

 The Lord guides us in the way we should go,

 and protects those who please him.

 If we fall we will not stay down

 because the Lord will help us up. Response

Response: Lord, teach me your ways.

 Good people’s words are wise and always fair.

 They keep the law of God in their heart

 and never depart from it.

Response:  Lord, teach me your ways.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.  In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.

The Gospel of the Lord

Homily - 

     We are so glad to have all of you children here at Vacation Bible School this week.  We are so glad to have you here with us at mass today on the last day of our Vacation Bible School experience.  Celebrating around the table of the Lord is an important part of who we are as Catholics.

       Our theme this year has been so wonderful – Mount Everest – Conquering Challenges with God’s mighty power.  We heard from our friend Mr. Travis on Tuesday about him climbing up Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa.  Mr. Travis is a friend of mine and Miss Laine – he is a man of great courage and a man of great faith.  He tried to climb Mount Kilimanjaro one time, but got sick from altitude sickness, and had to come down the mountain without getting to the top.  But his dream was to go back and finish, which he did.  His faith kept him going.  God help him never give up, and he made it to the top. 

       We heard about a man named Naaman earlier in the week.  Naaman was a leper.  He had a terrible skin disease.  He was an important man.  He expected to be treated like an important man.  But, instead, all the prophet Elijah did was tell Namaan to go into the river and bathe.  He objected, but he was encouraged to bathe in the river, and it cured him of his disease. Sometimes God brings healing into our lives in ways we do not expect.  But we have to be open to the wonderful way that God acts in our lives.

       Sometimes we go through a lot of challenges in our lives, don’t we. Sometimes it is hard to make it through the day.  But Jesus is there to help us through the challenges in our lives.  Jesus helps us forgive someone even when it is so difficult to do so.  Even when things seem hopeless, God is there for us to give us strength and courage. Jesus helps us climb the mountains that we need to climb in life.

         All of you know that like Mr. Travis, I like hiking and have a great sense of adventure.  My hiking pole and backpack and hiking shoes and sleeping bag are all up here.  When I was in Spain last winter hiking on the Camino, I hit a lot of snow.  One day, when I was in a very remote location in the mountains, a really bad blizzard hit.  I was really scared.  It was late in the afternoon.  I was afraid it would get dark soon.  However, I kept on going and I asked God to give me the courage to continue.  I kept on walking and finally the storm stopped.  I was really tired and my body ached, but I made it to my destination that night.

         We are so glad that you came to Vacation Bible School this week boys and girls.  We are so glad we had so many adults and youth to help us this week.  We are so glad we had Miss Raquel and her kitchen staff here to feed us and take care of us.  I hope you remember all of the stories and experiences and songs and lessons that you had this week.  It will help you when you go through some tough days.