Lenten Reflection Series: What Could We Learn from the Little Ones ?

by Barwendé M. Sané, SJ., Jesuit Graduate Fellow

Lent is a period of repentance through the three pillars: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. And repentance is about listening to God and listening to others. In meditating on the gospel of St. Luke (4:24-30) alongside the reading of Second Kings (5:1-15), I have discovered how important it is to listen to and learn from the little ones. Jesus, the prophet sent by God to save his own kind was rejected by his people, as they did centuries ago with many prophets. Truly, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. However, Jesus provided examples of people from foreign countries, who accepted to listen to Israel’s prophets and got healing from them, including General Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram. In fact, Naaman was healed from his leprosy, by the prophet Elisha, when he accepted to listen to his own servant and then obeyed the command of the prophet. 

What could we learn in listening to the little ones? Those who are poor, vulnerable, uneducated, or unvoiced? Regardless of his might and recorded victories over empires and kingdoms, Naaman was an unhappy person. Informed about the power of  Elisha, Naaman went to the prophet of Samaria and got healed from his leprosy,  when he accepted to plunge into the Jordan river, less important than the rivers of his own country. 

Beyond the case of General Naaman, I would like to extend the importance of listening to and learning from those who are considered poor and not important in our world. Concerning the climate crisis, Pope Francis, in this encyclical, Querida Amazonia, is inviting the world to listen to the indigenous people of Amazonia, from whom the rest of the world can learn a lot about caring for the earth. They are the best custodians of the planet. In fact, the damage done to the ecosystem affects indigenous people, and their expression of it is deep: “We are water, air, earth and life of the environment created by God. For this reason, we demand an end to the mistreatment and destruction of Mother Earth. The land has blood, and it is bleeding; the multinationals have cut the veins of our Mother Earth.” Despite the power of science and technology developed by the powerful nations, they should have enough humility to listen to the prophets from remote places, indigenous people, who could contribute sustainable solutions to the world climate issue. During this Lenten season, we are invited to pay more attention to people we are used to neglecting.