Gospel reading: Mt 8:5-17
When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven, but the children of the Kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” And Jesus said to the centurion, “You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” And at that very hour his servant was healed.
Jesus entered the house of Peter, and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she rose and waited on him.
When it was evening, they brought him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick, to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet:/ He took away our infirmities/ and bore our diseases.
REFLECTIONS
I will come and cure him
Without inhibition, the centurion approaches Jesus and pleads with him for his sick servant. As Jesus readily responds and offers to come with him, the officer backtracks, considering himself unworthy to have Jesus under his roof. Jesus need not defile himself by entering the house of a Gentile. The centurion believes, from his experience as a military commander whose orders are followed by his soldiers, that Jesus can cure the servant just by giving the word.
Amazing is the centurion’s faith. Jesus has never found one like this in Israel. He respects the officer and does not force himself to go with him. Rewarding his unprecedented faith, Jesus sends the centurion home to find his petition granted.
We can call the centurion’s faith vicarious. We do not know whether the servant believes in Jesus or not. But we are sure the officer believes. The servant is healed because of the faith of his master.
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
