By Charles Muchiri
Today’s Gospel, comes with a dramatic story about the centurion who came seeking Christ’s intervention:
This day; let this centurion inspire us to find Christ with so much faith that when He turns towards us, He is utterly amazed by our desire to embrace Him!
Mass Readings
First Reading: Lam 2: 2, 10-14,
18-19
Responsorial Psalms:
Ps 74:1b-2, 3-5, 6-7, 20-21
Gospel: Mt 8:5-17
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| The centurion and Christ |
The centurion is a man of power: In his very words to
Christ, in his capacity as a centurion and a master; he commands people and
they follow his instructions.
But here he is; with all his earthly worth, coming to
Christ, with all the meekness, and true faith, requesting Christ to intervene
in a situation that can not be quenched by his earthly powers.
Here are some crucial lessons that we ought to learn from
this Gospel:
Number one: We may have positions of authority in our lives;
in our work places, but these positions of authority can only take us as far.
There is a point that our earthly powers can not overshoot. Like the centurion,
we must acknowledge that there is a higher being; who has authority over
everything that we go through. And that is where Christ comes in.
Number two: The Centurion is seeking Christ’s help, for his
servant: Not for himself; nor for his own wife or children; but for his
servant.
He is caring enough to mind about his servant. And he is not
selfish while at it. How far are we willing to extend our hand of help, not
just to those with whom we are immediately related, but to our neighbour, to
those with whom we do not share close relations?
How do we treat those who are under our authority; be it at
our work places or even in our homes? Are we only bent on harassing them; on
getting what they are prescribed to offer us, without a care in the World about
their basic needs as human beings? Are we fair to them on their wages?
Are we willing to go an extra mile to assist other people to
get healing; spiritual healing from Christ?
Number Three: The centurion is a man of faith; great faith.
He believes in Christ so much such that he is confident that it is not a must
for Christ to physically go to his house in order for his servant to get
healed.
He tells Christ thus; "Lord, I am not worthy to have
you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.”
These are words that are so profound; so full of faith; in
fact they are the very words that we, the Roman Catholics recite as the prayer
just before receiving the Holy Eucharist.
So, every day that we are celebrating Holy Mass, we
always try to emulate this centurion’s faith just before receiving Christ in
the Holy Eucharist.
This day; let this centurion inspire us to find Christ with so much faith that when He turns towards us, He is utterly amazed by our desire to embrace Him!
/E-mail this writer: paradisedoorstep@gmail.com/
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