Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint 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.”
I will come and cure him
1. Suffering dreadfully. The centurion’s humility and compassion are remarkable. He doesn’t show superiority; he shows compassion. He’s not indifferent, on the contrary, he’s committed. He doesn’t deny what’s happening to him and begs Jesus to help his servant. Let’s be generous and compassionate. If you always complain about the situation in your home, try going to a retirement home and you’ll see how many are forgotten by their own relatives. Or if you continually complain because you’re exploited at work, take a look round and see all those who haven’t been able to find a job for a long time and are desperate. Stop and look around you because that’s when you’ll understand that by looking at yourself so much you’ve forgotten to sympathize with your brothers and sisters.
2. I am not worthy. Advent invites us to live in humility, remembering who we are, but, above all, remembering that not everything we do or have, has been achieved or obtained on our own merit. Recently, we Christians have fallen into the trap of voluntarism and by this I mean doing things in excess and thinking we’ve accomplished them on our own, forgetting that it is God who has allowed us to do so. At the same time, we might feel extremely satisfied by what we’ve succeeded in doing and forget that it’s all through the grace of God. So, let’s go back to humility and simplicity today. Remember that there’s a God who will never abandon you, but He invites you to remember your littleness.
3. Faith. When faith is linked to humility, it can do great things in you and in me. Therefore, don’t be discouraged. Seek the faith that nourishes your life and helps you to trust when it seems that everything is lost. Nourish that trust in God because when you trust and abandon yourself to Him everything changes. Don’t look at the grandeur of life, rather look at life with all its greatness.
Never forget that something good is on the way!
God bless you, be with you and protect you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
