GOD AS VISITOR, GREAT FAITH       

June 26, Saturday

TWELFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME           

     Our first reading in Year I speaks of the wonderful visit of God to Abraham to confirm his promise. The monk Andrei Rublev used this scene for his famous icon of the Blessed Trinity. God invites himself in our lives. Do we recognize and receive him?

      At a mere word of Jesus, the health of the centurion’s servant is restored in response to the marvelous faith of the pagan centurion. He is a model of faith to all of us. His faith makes him worthy to take his place at the table of the kingdom.

 

First Reading: Genesis 18:1-15

God appeared to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. It was the hottest part of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing. He ran from his tent to greet them and bowed before them.

He said, “Master, if it please you, stop for a while with your servant. I’ll get some water so you can wash your feet. Rest under this tree. I’ll get some food to refresh you on your way, since your travels have brought you across my path.”

They said, “Certainly. Go ahead.”

Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. He said, “Hurry. Get three cups of our best flour; knead it and make bread.”

Then Abraham ran to the cattle pen and picked out a nice plump calf and gave it to the servant who lost no time getting it ready. Then he got curds and milk, brought them with the calf that had been roasted, set the meal before the men, and stood there under the tree while they ate.

The men said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”

He said, “In the tent.”

One of them said, “I’m coming back about this time next year. When I arrive, your wife Sarah will have a son.” Sarah was listening at the tent opening, just behind the man.

Abraham and Sarah were old by this time, very old. Sarah was far past the age for having babies. Sarah laughed within herself, “An old woman like me? Get pregnant? With this old man of a husband?”

God said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh saying, ‘Me? Have a baby? An old woman like me?’ Is anything too hard for God? I’ll be back about this time next year and Sarah will have a baby.”

 Sarah lied. She said, “I didn’t laugh,” because she was afraid.

But he said, “Yes you did; you laughed.”

 

Gospel: Matthew 8:5-17

As Jesus entered the village of Capernaum, a Roman captain came up in a panic and said, “Master, my servant is sick. He can’t walk. He’s in terrible pain.”

Jesus said, “I’ll come and heal him.”

 “Oh, no,” said the captain. “I don’t want to put you to all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine. I’m a man who takes orders and gives orders. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes; to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Taken aback, Jesus said, “I’ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all about God and how he works. This man is the vanguard of many outsiders who will soon be coming from all directions—streaming in from the east, pouring in from the west, sitting down at God’s kingdom banquet alongside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then those who grew up ‘in the faith’ but had no faith will find themselves out in the cold, outsiders to grace and wondering what happened.”

Then Jesus turned to the captain and said, “Go. What you believed could happen has happened.” At that moment his servant became well.

By this time they were in front of Peter’s house. On entering, Jesus found Peter’s mother-in-law sick in bed, burning up with fever. He touched her hand and the fever was gone. No sooner was she up on her feet than she was fixing dinner for him.

That evening a lot of demon-afflicted people were brought to him. He relieved the inwardly tormented. He cured the bodily ill. He fulfilled Isaiah’s well-known sermon:

He took our illnesses,
He carried our diseases.

 

Prayer

Lord, our God,
you come and visit us
often when we are not aware of your coming.
Make us aware of your presence,
that we may eagerly receive you
and be enriched by your visit.
Make us highly appreciate your hospitality
when you set for us the table
of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Faith
The term Faith is not necessarily about our spiritual life; rather it is a very secular word. Without faith our life becomes almost impossible. We have faith that the food we consume is not poisonous; we have faith in the drivers of buses and trains by which we travel every day; we have faith in our doctors. Of course, all these can let us down, but on the whole we maintain our faith in them.

But faith in Jesus is something different. This Faith is the response of the human heart to God’s infinite love and mercy. It is a supernatural gift from God.

The faith of the Roman centurion is one of the most moving and powerful examples of faith in the whole of New Testament. His act of faith is remembered every time we celebrate the Eucharist. “Lord I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; but only say a word…”

Pope Francis while reflecting on the passage had said “The Lord marvelled at the centurion. He marvelled at his faith. The centurion made a journey to meet the Lord, but he made it in faith. He not only encountered the Lord, but he came to know the joy of being encountered by him. When we allow ourselves to be encountered by Jesus, he enters into us” and renews us from within.

The Holy Spirit was at work in this gentile soldier, moving him to a faith so profound. It is important to understand and appreciate that the Spirit is always at work in people’s lives – whoever they are, whatever they have done. God allows his sun to shine on the righteous and the unrighteous, on the good, the bad and the rebellious.

Matthew also speaks of Jesus entering the House of Peter and healing his Mother-in-law. He mentions it here for the purpose of catechesis. Yesterday we reflected on Jesus touching the leper. Today we see him touching the sick woman. Recall the words of the Pope: Do not be afraid to get our hands dirty. Touch the lives of the people around. The greek word chosen by the evangelist is used to indicate the resurrection, raising from the dead, from a condition of “no life.” The sick woman represents the whole of humanity to which Jesus approaches to introduce new life.

Once healed, She begins to serve Jesus and the disciples. Here is the sign that characterizes who is put back on his feet by Christ: the service to the brothers and sisters. Until that happens, healing has not occurred or is still incomplete.

The Gospel ends with the narration of Jesus driving out demons and healing many sick who were brought to him at the House of Peter. This is important: House of Peter is the Church. It is in the Church of Christ, that we have a new life.

 

Video available on Youtube: Faith