Gospel MT 8:5-11
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.”
Reflection:
The centurion’s servant was dreadfully ill.
Jesus said, “I will come and cure him.”
The centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.”
The centurion is to be admired. He did not need proof; he had faith that Jesus would heal his servant.
When it comes to faith, I relate more closely to Peter than I do to the centurion in today’s gospel.
Peter had faith as he stepped out of the boat and walked on water.
But, when the storm and wind intensified, he became frightened and began to sink. Jesus was there; He reached out and grasped Peter’s hand.
Fear tests our faith and tells us that we cannot go forward.
However, faith answers: With God we can do all things.
Faith can be defined as the extent to which we believe that with God,
all that we hope for will come to be.
Things have not always turned out exactly the way I had hoped.
Nevertheless, in accordance with God’s will, they have always turned out for the best.
“The only known antidote to fear is faith.” Woodrow Kroll