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.
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Why is Jesus a magnet to people most especially to
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 his servant.
This gospel episode invites us to reflect if we also
make ourselves available to those who are in need of our help. Often we are not
willing to help because it will disturb us. It will affect our personal
finances and schedules and so forth. However, it’s not every day that we are
asked for help.
The best way to share our faith and to share Jesus
is not though 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 cannot give back the help that we give them.
Do you take time to make yourself available to those
who are in need especially the poor? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment