Gospel: Matthew 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.
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Reflection:
Are you always available to those who are in need of your help?
Why is Jesus a magnet to people most especially to those who are
in need? This is for the reason that Jesus never refused anyone who asked for
His help most especially those who are persistent. Jesus was always available,
Jesus would always have time for them regardless of who they are and where they
came from.
The centurion/soldier in our gospel came from a faraway place and
certainly not a follower of Jesus. But he knew Jesus and he heard of His
miracles so he ventured to see Him. And when he saw Jesus he asked him to cure
his servant. Jesus never had any second thought of helping the centurion; he
even offered to go his house to personally cure the centurion’s servant.
This gospel episode invites us to reflect if we also make
ourselves available to those who are in need of our help. Often times we are
not willing to help because it will disturb us. It will affect our personal
finances and schedules but it’s not every day that we are asked for help.
The best way to share our faith and to share Jesus is not through
eloquent or bombastic preaching. The best way to share our faith and to share
Jesus is when we make ourselves available most especially to those who are in
need. And to those who can’t give back the help that we will give them. –
Marino J. Dasmarinas
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