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 it 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 your servant even if they cannot serve you 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
servants. They’re everywhere and they badly need our help.
Who are
the servants and poor that needs our love and care? They may be our poor
siblings, our neighbor, our neglected children and parents or any nameless
individual who is in need of our help. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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