Gospel: Matthew 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.
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Reflection:
How deep is your faith in Jesus?
Aside from learning about the centurion’s deep faith in God what else do
we learn from our gospel today? We learn how to deeply care and be concerned
for our fellowmen no matter who they may be and regardless of their standing in
our society.
The centurion is not an ordinary soldier. He is an officer but he was
very concerned of his servant that he went to Jesus with faith and asked for
His healing. Considering his stature the centurion could have simply sent some
of his underlings to Jesus. But he went personally to Jesus, his action speaks
volumes of his goodness.
How many of us are caring enough for those who are lowly and poor; they
are both neglected people of our society. How many of us truly care for our servants?
Would we still care for our servant even if they cannot serve us
anymore?
On this Advent season perhaps Jesus is inviting our attention thru this
gospel reading. To take a closer look on the plight of the less fortunate: the
poor, the hungry and those neglected by our society. They’re everywhere and
they badly need our help.
Would you help them as well like the centurion? – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
