Gospel (Lk 7:1-10)

After Jesus had ended all his sayings in the hearing of the people he entered Capernaum. Now a centurion had a slave who was dear to him, who was sick and at the point of death. When he heard of Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his slave. And when they came to Jesus, they besought him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he built us our synagogue.” And Jesus went with them.

When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this he marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that followed him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave well.

Commentary

Who was this centurion? He would have been a pagan since he belonged to the Roman people who had occupied Israel. He was probably very reluctant to approach our Lord personally: How is he going to receive me since he is a Jew and I am a Roman? He could also have been worried about what his comrades in arms would think if he went to the Jewish Rabbi. So he decided to send some elders of the Jews, and when Jesus was getting near, some of his friends.

What spurs him to ask our Lord for help is his love for his sick servant, and this affection enables him to overcome any human respects. Jesus is amazed and exclaims: “not even in Israel have I found such faith.” What wonderful praise!

May our Lord be able to praise us too for our faith. May He praise us because we show clearly our faith in Him, because we seek Him every day in the Bread and in the Word and because we seek Him in those alongside us. Jesus is waiting for me in that person at my side. He wants me to treat that person with affection, to be ready to forgive them, to understand them.

When Jesus finds that faith in us, when we clearly manifest that we are relying on Him, He comes quickly to help us. Let us ask Jesus to give us his grace so that we may discover Him to those close to us.