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After Pentecost Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
After Pentecost Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
Today we heard the Gospel about the healing of Centurion’s servant. Jesus Christ performed many miracles during His earthly life: He walked upon the waters as upon dry land, He calmed the tempests, He satisfied the hunger of thousands of people with a few loaves of bread, and He resurrected from the dead. But the Gospels are particularly rich in description of His miraculous curing of various illnesses.
The Lord healed the possessed, the weak, the leprous, those with withered limbs, the mute, and the crippled. He healed those in various circumstances. He healed not only Jews, but also pagans; He healed them at any place and any time, at the request of the afflicted themselves or of other people; He healed them even without any request.
The only thing the Lord required of those He healed or of their families and friends, was a firm faith in His Divine authority.
In the Gospel we read today we heard the same story: Jesus performs the miraculous healing in answer to the appearance of a particularly firm faith. Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you, said the Lord to the Centurion of Capernaum. Jesus was amazed at the strength and firmness of his faith.
Where did this faith come from? When the Lord replied to the centurion’s request to cure his afflicted and cruelly suffering servant, saying I will come and heal him, the centurion replied: Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.
Having heard of the miracles performed by Christ, the centurion had faith in Him and came to Him with the request to cure his afflicted servant. But being a pagan, he deeply felt his unworthiness for close contact with such a lofty and Holy Being. And so the afflicted servant was healed by the Lord according to his master’s faith.
What was so special about the centurion’s faith, which we too can learn from him? Above all, it was strong and firm. Only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. Is our faith even a little bit like this?
We often turn to the Lord in prayer to be healed of various ailments, but we do not always receive what we ask because our faith is not firm enough. Instead of firmness of faith we doubt God’s power to heal. If you notice, the centurion’s faith was filled with deep humility and consciousness of his unworthiness before the Lord. His prayer, his request was humble.
When we turn to the Lord, we should also humble our pride and not imagine ourselves to be worthy of God’s grace. Yes, Christianity gives us an opportunity to ask our heavenly Father what we need as we would be worthy, but our daily sins confirm our unworthiness. Because of this, we should humbly recognize our insignificance and sinfulness, and hope only for the Lord’s infinite mercy. We should remember following words of the Bible: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Pet.5:5).
Finally, the centurion’s faith merged with a fervent love for his neighbor. It was this love and compassion, not even for the man of his own family, but for his servant, that moved him to turn to the Savior. This is what we have to have before we start to ask God for something. Instead of this, we, humans, when we turn to God for help in our needs and illnesses, we carry hatred and malice in our hearts for our neighbors, or we show indifference for the misfortunes of others.
Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you, said the Lord to the centurion. These words are also relevant for us. We receive everything from the Lord according to our faith. We turn to the Savior with various requests, but we do not always receive what we have asked. This occurs because our faith is not of the same type as the centurion’s. Our faith is weak, hesitant, not fused with deep humility and consciousness of our unworthiness. Besides this, our faith is not expressed in active love for our neighbors.
Dear brothers and sisters, let’s learn from the centurion’s faith to be humble and to love our neighbors. Then our faith will be also pleasing to God, and the Lord will not reject it, but to all our petitions we will hear His merciful answer: Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you. Amen.
