FAITH AND HUMILITY
Monday of the 24th week in Ordinary Time
My dear encountered couples:
Notice that the centurion did not come personally to ask Jesus for the cure of his servant. He realized he was not a member of the chosen people; he was a pagan, so he made his request through Jewish friends. Here he was an officer of the Roman empire, a man in charge of a hundred or more soldiers of the emperor’s army, not strutting to Jesus in his imposing military attire, but remaining in the background while friends made the request for him. We must not think this wasn’t noticed by Jesus. It was not only the man’s faith that touched the heart of Jesus, it was also his humility.
In our prayers God looks not only for our faith but also for our humility. Maybe they go hand in hand. For if we believe only God can help us, that is being humble. When we pray for anything at all we are showing we can’t handle the situation on our own. We are admitting we need God’s help.
Though God is available to everyone at any time, though his door is always open to all, some people send their requests to him by way of the saints. They ask their favorite saint to intercede for them with God because they consider themselves not holy or worthy enough to do it alone. The petitioner considers him or herself outside the circle of the holy and that the saints have much more influence. Is this different from the centurion’s reasoning?
“When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion sent some Jewish elders to ask him to come and save the life of his servant. On the way there, the centurion sent other friends to tell him, ‘Sir, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter my house.”
The man had faith and humility. Jesus performed the cure.
