GOSPEL

Give the word, and my servant will be healed

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

Luke 7:1-10

When Jesus had come to the end of all he wanted the people to hear, he went into Capernaum. A centurion there had a servant, a favourite of his, who was sick and near death. Having heard about Jesus he sent some Jewish elders to him to ask him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus they pleaded earnestly with him. ‘He deserves this of you’ they said ‘because he is friendly towards our people; in fact, he is the one who built the synagogue.’ So Jesus went with them, and was not very far from the house when the centurion sent word to him by some friends: ‘Sir,’ he said ‘do not put yourself to trouble; because I am not worthy to have you under my roof; and for this same reason I did not presume to come to you myself; but give the word and let my servant be cured. For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he goes; to another: Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does it.’ When Jesus heard these words he was astonished at him and, turning round, said to the crowd following him, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found faith like this.’ And when the messengers got back to the house they found the servant in perfect health.

The Gospel of the Lord.

We Don’t Deserve It

A man whom everyone considered worthy of the Lord’s favour, due to his generosity and service to God’s people, did not see himself as deserving of such blessings. His humility led him to have an extraordinary faith. Some people demand that God answers their prayers, but walking in truth means not seeing ourselves as deserving or worthy of the Lord’s favours, no matter how many good deeds we think we do.

Applied to Married Life:

Oliver: I’m still struggling with my pride because as soon as I feel slighted by you, I react against you.
Lucy: I don’t understand. With everything we do in service to the Lord, why do we keep falling? Why does it feel like we’re not making progress?
Oliver: Well, I think our problem is a lack of humility, and we will grow in humility if we accept that we don’t deserve for God to rescue us from our faults. So, perhaps continuing to stumble is a lesson in humility for us.
Lucy: You might be right. Maybe what the Lord wants from us is to accept our fragility.
Oliver: Exactly. We give thanks because He hasn’t forgotten us.

Mother,

The Lord has already given us so much, too much to ask for more. He will lift us from our failings when He wills and how He wills. We trust in Him and His mercy. Praise be to Him forever.