10 October 2010

Naaman's spiritual odyssey

Sunday 28C - The healing of ten lepers in Luke 17 is a classic Lukan story that has its proper place on the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem. But to truly understand the power of this story for our own lives we need to revisit the full story of the healing of Naaman that we read only a small extract from 2 Kings 5 to see what lessons we can learn for our own lives. The work of Russian linguist and folklore analyst Vladimir Propp (1895-1970) may also be helpful in understanding what is at stake when Naaman listens to the advice of a enemy and foreign slave girl to travel to Jerusalem to enlist the help of a prophet by the name of Elisha.

Recorded at St John Vianney (11'17")