Reflection: Luke 7:1-10

Monday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time- Luke 7:1-10 

The Gospel for today is a familiar one.  The reading begins with Jesus entering Capernaum.  A centurion had a servant whom he held in high regard.  The servant was seriously ill and likely would die.  The centurion hoped with all his heart that Jesus would heal his beloved servant.   The man asked several of the Jewish elders to go and ask Jesus if he would come to his house and save the life of the servant.  The elders did as he asked.

The elders approached Jesus and told him about the centurion’s request.  They told Jesus that the centurion was a very good man.  He had high regard and respect for the Jewish people and had even built a synagogue for them.  And they implored Jesus to come with them to the centurion’s house.  Luke writes: “Jesus set out with them.”

As they approached the centurion’s home, friends of the man came and said to Jesus: “The centurion said:  ‘Sir, do not trouble yourself; I am not worthy to have you enter my house.  I believe if you simply say the word, my servant will be healed.  I know how authority works so just do what you will.  I place my trust in you.’”

Jesus was amazed at the man’s deep faith.  He turned to the crowd and said: “Never have I experienced such deep faith among the Israelites.  When the servants returned to the centurion’s home, they found the servant restored to good health.   

Today ask yourself: do you have the centurion’s depth of faith in Jesus?  I suspect many of us do not.  It takes great trust and faith to believe that Jesus always hears our prayers…and answers our prayers.  However, the answer to our prayers may not be the exact answer we desired.  At times, the answer may be more than we had hoped for.  At other times, the answer may take time to come to us.  Yet, every minute of the day Jesus is at our side, helping us and gracing us; carrying us when we need to be carried.  The question for us may be: how deep is our trust in Jesus?   Today take time and reflect on that question!  Jesus does not fail us; however, it may take time for us to realize this.