What is the chance of this consecration taking place on a day when in the Lectionary we are told of Naaman who is cured of leprosy by simply following Eliseus's instructions?
There's a weird irony about this, because those who argue that it is Russia in particular that the Pope and Catholic Bishops of the world need to consecrate to the Immaculate Heart of Mary say that, like Naaman, the Church's Popes and Hierarchy believe that 'minor details' like simply following the instructions given by Our Lady have been neglected. They also maintain that this neglect will have and already has had dreadful consequences for the World and the Church.
This is from one Fatima website:
Why should God place such importance on the Consecration of Russia?
The answer, of course, is that God’s ways are not our ways, and it is not for us to question God’s ordinances as given through His prophets, no matter how strange they may seem to human wisdom.
The Bible offers an enlightening example in this regard. The Fourth Book of Kings tells the story of Naaman (see Chapter 5:1-15), the leader of the Syrian army, who went to the prophet Eliseus in Israel to seek a miraculous cure for his leprosy.
Without actually meeting him, Eliseus sent Naaman instructions to bathe seven times in the river Jordan, in order to be cured. Naaman was indignant that Eliseus did not come to administer his cure personally. Merely bathing in the Jordan, he felt, could not possibly be any better than bathing in one of Syria’s fine rivers. Rejecting the prophet’s instructions as trivial, Naaman prepared to depart; however, his advisers dissuaded him.
They argued that if the prophet had asked him to perform some arduous feat to be cured, Naaman would have done it unquestionably. So why not simply do the seemingly mundane task that had been asked instead? In effect, they said to him: What have you got to lose? Naaman agreed to give it a try on this basis and, sure enough, on his seventh washing in the Jordan, his leprosy disappeared.
[...] There is a striking parallel between this miraculous Biblical event and the attitude now being taken by certain Church officials regarding the Consecration of Russia. Like Naaman, these officials seem unable to believe that something as simple as a Consecration of Russia could deliver a benefit as momentous as genuine world peace. However, unlike Naaman’s advisers, they are telling their leader — in this case, the Pope — that he need not follow the prophet’s advice to the letter. And it appears they are so stubbornly unrepentant in their view of the matter that they will not even allow the remedy to be tried, despite repeated appeals over many decades from millions of the faithful, including thousands in the Catholic clergy.
So I found today's first reading a little eerie. The odds of that reading coming up today must be rather short...
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