Sacred Scripture
When Jesus had finished all his words to the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave who was ill and about to die, and he was valuable to him. When he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and save the life of his slave. They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying, “He deserves to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us.” And Jesus went with them, but when he was only a short distance from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed. For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come here, and he comes; and to my slave, Do this, and he does it.” When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him and, turning, said to the crowd following him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” When the messengers returned to the house, they found the slave in good health. (Luke 7: 1-10)
Reflection
The centurion in today’s scripture gives faith a whole new meaning.
There were two components of the centurion’s words . . . faith and humility. He loved his slave and was desperate for help. There was no doctor who could heal him. But he heard of Jesus the miracle worker and knew he needed his help. He had faith that Jesus would.
Even though he was a powerful centurion, he didn’t think he was worthy to approach Jesus himself, and so he sent the powerful local Jewish leaders. The centurion came to Jesus with humility and acknowledging His authority by faith.
What even is faith? How does it affect our relationship with Jesus? Do we have that total faith in God’s presence within us? The answer is “yes.” Do we live that faith? By most standards, we don’t.
In fact, while faith is a gift from God, most often it is not alive in us. It does not permeate our thoughts, our words and our actions.
Most people pray but often it’s not with expectant faith. Many pray with their fingers crossed, hoping but not fully accepting the fact that the Lord will answer.
The reality is that the Lord, through the Holy Spirit, does answer but we get in the way. We forget that we truly have to” let go and let God.”
Then what do we need to do to ignite that faith?
We need to make the first move. If we can allow Jesus to touch our hearts, then we can build a legacy of hope, not just for ourselves but for others as well. Like the centurion we create our own house of faith for Jesus to enter if we humble ourselves and invite Him in. It’s then the hope begins to grow and multiply.
The centurion had enough faith in Jesus that he said Jesus only needed to say a word and his servant would be healed. Jesus then turned to the crowd following Him and said, “Never have I found such faith in all of Israel”
Whatever you’re going through today, this week, this month, trust and believe that God sees you. He knows what you’re going through, and He longs to help you.
Open your heart and, with centurion-like faith, allow God inside. You don’t need any messengers to do it for you. Call out directly to Him and believe by faith He can do far more than you can ever think or imagine. I assure you; He can meet your need.
Prayer of The Day
“Take my heart captive to your merciful love and truth and set me free to love and serve you always with joy and trust in the power of your saving word. May your love grow in me that I may always seek to love and serve others generously for their sake just as you have generously laid down your life for my sake.”
Daily Note
Faith cannot be proven. It is a gift only God can give. But we can be confident that God wants to give it. Often when we think about people we love who do not believe, we say, “It is my hope and prayer that someday they will find God”. The good news is that this is not necessary. The people we love do not need to find God, because we have a God who can find them.
