Saturday of 12th week, even numbered year
“When he went into Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded with him : ’Sir, ’he said ’my servant is lying at home paralysed and in great pain.”
We contemplate Jesus’ Passion : ’He replied to him : I shall come to heal him’ What is striking with the centurion is the awareness he has concerning his littleness. It is true that he finds himself in the situation of crying out his pain and in need of help, and so he stretches out his hand to Jesus. He feels he doesn’t have any tiny bit of right over Jesus. He is there right at the last place, hardly on the threshold, and confesses his littleness :
’Lord I am not worthy that you come under my roof.’
We contemplate the love, faith, confidence and humility of this centurion who feels great affection for hiss servant. He worries to the extent that he goes and humiliates himself before Jesus : ’Lord, my servant is in bed, at home, paralysed and he suffers greatly.’
This solicitude towards someone else, especially a servant, obtains for him from Jesus an immediate response : ’Lord, it would be too great an honour that you enter under my roof ; say only one word and my servant will be healed!’ This man’s faith is exemplary! The Church took up this expression which we say before receiving the Body of Christ in the Eucharist!
“When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said tot hose following him, ’In truth, I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found faith as great as this.”
The centurion’s attitude, his unlimited confidence in Jesus is only possible because the centurion senses that there is already a personal link between Jesus and himself. He understood that Jesus was going to do that for him. To believe that Jesus will do so because he is well disposed towards him, so that the centurion’ heart opened up to Jesus.
The centurion’ heart is full of Love, humility and confidence. This man would say : ’For I myself am under the authority of my superiors and I have soldiers
under my orders ; I say to one : Go! And he goes, and to another : ’Come!’ And he comes, and to my slave : ’Do this!’ And he does it.
Jesus valorises this man who calls out to him and he is happy with this faith which puts into work God’s infinite Love.
Jesus said to the centurion :’Go, may it happen unto you according to your faith. And at that very moment the servant was healed.“The centurion is conscious of the power that Jesus’ Word contains : ’Say only one Word and my servant will be healed.”
The centurion has such an abandon and an obedience of faith that each person tries to live with the Word of God and the power hidden in it. His faith was before all else trust in Jesus, and surrender to His Word, and that as far as obedience.
“And going into Peter’s house Jesus found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed and feverish. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him.”
Jesus has power over illnesses, this saving power of Christ spreads out to bodies, it is the announcement of the Good News.
The healings brought about by Jesus are an announcement of his Resurrection and of our own Resurrection. We shall all rise up in the splendour of our Risen bodies, to participate with our spirit and our flesh, in Jesus’ triumph and glory.
By healing the sick, Jesus accomplishes Isaiah’s prophesy : ’He took his infirmities on us, He took on Himself all our sicknesses.’
Jesus heals our hearts, he is the saviour of the whole of humanity. He took upon Himself our sin, he took upon Him all our sufferings, our infirmities, our sick. He took upon Himself our sin : ’He became sin for us.’
He delivers us by the mystery of Divine Love which goes right down to our sufferings and our pain so as to take it on himself and in this way heal us, save us, having us participate in our resurrection.