Only Say the Word

An entire week passed, eight days actually, and no posts!

I ask myself, "What good is something if you don't use it?" No good at all. And no excuse, sir, no excuse. Sloth is a wily foe who, in the words of the Western movie cliché, "takes a heap o' killin'."

I will try to recall all that has happened in the past action-filled week and fill in here as I am able.

Slept a few minutes too long and didn't get up in time to make it to Daily Mass this morning. Get to work, open my Magnificat to today's readings and wham! -- the story of the centurion's servant, the theme behind this blog, is today's Gospel in the Roman Catholic church. Jumpin' catfish did I ever miss the train! Maybe the cathedral downtown has a noon Mass. If so, I will go.

My mother-in-law makes an annual gift to me on the anniversary of my baptism, a subscription to "The Word Among Us," which has a daily meditation for the readings in the Roman Catholic missal for that day.

To wit, I present today's meditation from The Word Among Us.

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Monday, November 28, 2005

Meditation Matthew 8:5-11

The centurion in today’s gospel showed great courage in asking Jesus to heal his servant. For a powerful officer in the Roman army to seek out a Jewish rabbi from a small town in Galilee would not have been a politically expedient thing to do. Yet he did not hesitate to approach Jesus. Where did his courage come from? From the same source that allows us to be spiritually courageous: a sense of need and a great trust that Jesus is able to meet those needs.

Did you notice the urgency and desperation that marked the centurion’s words? “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress” (Matthew 8:6). Evidently, this man cared a great deal for his servant and didn’t want to see him suffering. So without regard for the possible consequences of associating with Jesus, he sought him out and made his request with boldness and humility.

Obviously, this centurion had a great sense of need, but that alone was probably not enough to move him to Jesus. He must have also believed that Jesus had some special power that enabled him to reverse the course of a serious illness. He must have sensed that Jesus could fill his need.

Notice, too, that the centurion didn’t take his servant to Jesus to be healed, as so many others had done. He didn’t even think it was necessary for Jesus to touch his servant. All he needed was for Jesus to say the word, and the healing would occur. No wonder Jesus marveled at his faith—and he was a pagan, no less!

As the season of Advent unfolds, Jesus wants to give each of us the same kind of courageous faith that this centurion displayed. We know that faith is a free gift from God. But we also know that we must cooperate with God if we want to see this faith bear fruit. It’s up to us to let go of our overly sophisticated complexity, as well as our fears, and come to Jesus humble, needy, and trusting. The next time you are at Mass, think about this centurion and his faith as you join him in confessing: “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word, and I shall be healed.”

“Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”

Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122:1-9

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I hereby resolve to not let missing daily Mass or skipping an entry here happen again.