June 26, 2010
Saturday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Cry out to the Lord; moan, O daughter Zion! Let your tears flow like a torrent day and night; Let there be no respite for you, no repose for your eyes. Rise up, shrill in the night, at the beginning of every watch; Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord; Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your little ones (Who faint from hunger at the corner of every street). Lamentations 2:18-19
“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.” Matthew 8:8
Piety
Lord, I am not worthy to receive you. Only say the word and I shall be healed.
Study
Our first reading provides a rhetorical question answered in today’s Gospel. “For great as the sea is your downfall; who can heal you?” Lamentations 2:13b
The answer, of course, is the Lord. However, this may not be the most important lesson of the day. Reading the Gospel, we also are confronted with the question of power. The centurion commands legions of soldiers. With a few words, he commands these men to follow his orders. However, no amount of “position power” can help the centurion save his servant.
The weakness of his power and words is placed in stark contrast to the strength exhibited in the power and words of Jesus. Jesus does not even have to be in the room with the servant who is ill. The servant is cured from miles away at the very moment that Jesus commanded it to be so.
Recognizing the limits of any position power is driven home by the humility of the centurion. “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.” (Matthew 8:8) We encounter the humility of a servant leader again when Jesus faces his trial and execution. Even though we know he has the natural power to control his situation, he surrenders to the power of others in order to ascend over his humanity and back to his divinity.
Action
What are the limits of our faith? How far will we go to follow Jesus? Can we set aside our personal agendas in order to exercise the faith He seeks in us? Jesus never rescinds his invitation to us. Are we ready to accept it?
If we answer yes to that question, the example we have to be ready to follow is that of Peter's mother-in-law. After she accepted the healing power of Jesus, she in turn accepted her responsibility to serve the Lord and the children of God.
