Gospel for June 27, 2009, Saturday

Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. | 06/27/2009 1:05 AM

12th Week in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: Gen 18:1–15
Gospel: Mt 8:5–17
When Jesus entered Capernaum, an army captain approached him to ask his help, “Sir, my servant lies sick at home. He is paralyzed and suffers terribly.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
The captain answered, “I am not worthy to have you under my roof. Just give an order and my boy will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers. And if I say to one: ‘Go,’ he goes, and if I say to another: ‘Come,’ he comes, and to my servant: ‘Do this,’ he does it.”
When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those who were following him, “I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel. I say to you, many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven; but the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness; there they will wail and grind their teeth.” Then Jesus said to the captain, “Go home now. As you believed, so let it be.” And at that moment his servant was healed.
Jesus went to Peter’s house and found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with fever. He took her by the hand and the fever left her; she got up and began to wait on him. Towards evening they brought to Jesus many possessed by evil spirits, and with a word he drove out the spirits. He also healed all who were sick. In doing this he fulfilled what was said by the prophet Isaiah: He bore our infirmities and took on himself our diseases.

Commentary
Today’s centurion was a heathen, a Roman soldier, hated by the Jews of the time. Though he was a soldier, yet he was a godly man. It just goes to show that no person’s calling or place should be an excuse for unbelief and sin.
The centurion realized that Jesus had divine power and full command of all the creatures and powers of nature. A profession of our faith may allow us to be called children of God; but, it’s not enough to rely on that, with nothing else to show for our beliefs. The servant got a cure of his disease, and his master got the approval of his faith in Jesus. What was said to the centurion is said to all of us: believe and you will receive! When we see the power of our faith in Christ, the healing of our souls becomes both the effect and the evidence of that faith in our daily lives!

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