Monday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Monday, September 18, 2023

Gospel Lk 7:1-10

When Jesus had finished all his words to the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave who was ill and about to die, and he was valuable to him. When he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and save the life of his slave. They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying, "He deserves to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us." And Jesus went with them, but when he was only a short distance from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed. For I too am a person 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 at him and, turning, said to the crowd following him, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." When the messengers returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

Reflection

"Lord, do not trouble yourself,

for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof.

Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you;

but say the word and let my servant be healed.” When I first read this I found the centurion's words to be so meek and respectful, full of humility and awe. I thought it evoked the very essence of Christ's call to be "meek and humble of heart." He did not ask anything for himself but asked for Jesus to heal his slave, which surprised me for a multitude of reasons. The act was a selfless one. And then he was so humble in his request despite his status and position which showed such faith. It really stuck out to me that Jesus said "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith”. It made me think, would Jesus ever be able to say that of me and I found I might not like the answer. Faith is difficult, there is no question about it. When we are going through tough times it can seem as if we are all alone in our struggles, and we forget that we are never truly alone. Faith, much like love, is a daily choice, and one that can waver and be tested. The question remains, how will we respond when faced with those tests of faith? Will we be like the centurion and respond meekly and humbly with compassion or will we respond the way we often do, with doubts and anxieties?

Will we, like him, set aside our pride and entitlement, recognizing that true strength lies in humility and compassion? The choice is ours when faced with the daily trials of life. We can choose to embrace our faith as a source of unwavering support, trusting in the divine plan, and extending compassion to others. Or we can let doubt and fear overshadow our faith, causing us to falter when we need it most.