Reflection on the Gospel of the Monday In The First Week Of Advent |
Matthew 8:5-11 |
The centurion was a person in authority in the Roman Empire. From this passage we see that though he was not a Jew, he had heard and known of Jesus and his works. And when his servant got paralyzed, he knew exactly whom to contact. He himself came to Jesus to ask for healing for his servant.
Being in the position of authority he was humble, kind and loving as he himself came in search of Jesus, he could have sent his soldiers to search for Jesus, he loved his servant so much that he was in much distress, these are rare but must qualities of a leader. And his faith was so great that Jesus also complimented him and said that he had till then not seen such great faith. If you all remember these words spoken by the centurion are said at every mass “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say thy word and my soul shall be healed”. Do we even mean what we say?
And what did Jesus mean by saying, “many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” …… This message was for the Jews who had hardened their hearts and refused to repent and accept Jesus as their messiah. Hence looking at a non-Jewish person’s faith Jesus said that many non-Jews would come from all the ends of the earth and follow Jesus and eventually be in heaven with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Don’t we see this even today, if you have seen miracles happening at retreats, the non-Christians who have just heard about Jesus for the first time receive mighty healings, and this is only because of their faith.
Lord Jesus, help us to have faith like the centurion and believe that you can even today do great things, your Word is alive even today. Give us the grace to believe in you and accept you as our only Messiah.
