Faith Is The Capstone Of Our Relationship With God

"I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say Thy Word and I shall be healed." (Matt 8:8)

𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝟐𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐆𝐞𝐧 𝟏𝟖:𝟏-𝟏𝟓

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐋𝐤 𝟏:𝟒𝟔-𝟓𝟎, 𝟓𝟑-𝟓𝟓 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲. “𝐌𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟖:𝟓-𝟏𝟕  

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑰𝒔𝒓𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉.” (𝒗.10) 

         The faith of the Jews in God is something that cannot be doubted or questioned because their lives are governed by a set of rules which they believed were decreed by God and were passed on to them by their religious leaders beginning from Moses who put all these laws into the Torah.

         But for a foreigner and a Gentile to be virtuous was something that will come as a surprise especially for a man of authority such as the Roman Centurion in this Gospel passage in 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 8:5-17 that even Jesus was amazed for He had never seen anyone in Israel with the kind of character that the Centurion showed. 

        What aroused the interest of Jesus was the humility, compassion and faith of the Centurion that was quite exceptional for a man of his stature because a Roman Centurion was a man of great resolve since he belongs to an elite group that served as the backbone of the Roman army.

         A Roman legion normally consists of 6,000 men and this was divided into 60 centuries, each counting 100 men and in command of each century was a Centurion. They were well trained, and they were held responsible for the discipline of their men as the morale of the Roman army depended on them. Centurions show great courage in action and were reliable. They do not rush into a fight but when pressed, they are ready to hold their ground and die on their posts. The Centurions were the finest specimens in the Roman army.

         It is probably in this regard that Centurions were mentioned in the Scriptures with honor and respect. We remember the Centurion who recognized Jesus on the cross as the Son of God. We also have been introduced to Cornelius who was the first Gentile who converted to the Christian Church. And there was the Centurion who, after learning that Paul was a Roman citizen, helped and rescued him.

         Another Centurion saved Paul from the Jews on his journey between Jerusalem and Caesarea. And there was the Centurion who treated Paul with courtesy on their way to Rome and who deferred to Paul’s guidance when a storm struck the ship they were on board.

         For a man of great courage and authority, this Centurion went to Jesus in all humility. Aware of his situation as a Gentile who was discriminated by the Jews, this Centurion humbled himself and asked Jesus for help.

         What caught the attention of Jesus was the attitude of the Centurion towards his servant who probably was a slave, but the Centurion was concerned that his servant was paralyzed and in terrible suffering. This attitude was the reverse of the normal practice in those days between a master and a slave.

         In fact, slaves in those days had no legal rights and were regarded as inconsequential. But this Centurion was different because he showed compassion for his servant and this love which covers a multitude of sins was probably the one thing that moved Jesus to say: “𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒎.” (𝒗.7)

         Again, the Centurion showed he was a man of great faith. Knowing that the Mishnah (a book of instruction from which parts of the Talmud were based) prevent Jews from coming to the house of a Gentile that is deemed unclean, the Centurion simply said: “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅.” (𝒗.8)

         At which Jesus said: “𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉, 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑰𝒔𝒓𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉.” (𝒗.10) And here Jesus used an imagery of which Jews were quite familiar – the picture of a great banquet when the Messiah will come. The Jews looked forward to this event, but Jesus also said that while many will come to the banquet from the east and the west, many too would be thrown out into the outer darkness.

         What Jesus meant was that being a Jew doesn’t give them a mandatory invitation to the great banquet unless they have faith. In the same way, belonging to a Church, Community, Ministry or Apostolate doesn’t assure us of eternal salvation. While the Jews believed that he belongs to the chosen race, Jesus preached that the only way to the Kingdom of God is by way of faith. 

        There are two instances in Matthew’s Gospel that refer to Gentiles coming to Jesus – in today’s Gospel and in 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 15:21-28. In both cases, Christ healed at a distance. These two instances are somewhat similar to 𝑬𝒑𝒉 2:12-13 where the Gentiles are said to be away from where Jesus was. But in all these cases, we see the examples of faith that Christ honored, and it was the power of His Word that the miracles too place.

         In the same vein, Christ offers a stern warning to the Jews (𝒗𝒗.10-12) that because of their unbelief, they will lose the Kingdom and the Gentiles will receive it instead. What this Gospel narrative also shows is that Jesus has the power over anything as we seem him moving to heal a terrible disease – leprosy – to a common ailment, fever.

         What is significant in the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law was when Jesus quoted 𝑰𝒔𝒂 53:4 “𝑯𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒔.” which provides scriptural proof of Christ’s healing ministry. Biblical scholars have interpreted this quote to mean that there is “healing in the atonement” and that the death of Christ gives us the privilege of physical healing today.

         However, Mathew in today’s Gospel was not referring to his death on the cross but to the life of Jesus as 𝑰𝒔𝒂 53:4 doesn’t refer to Calvary but to Christ’s earthly ministry of healing. And Peter in 1 𝑷𝒆𝒕 2:24 refers to 𝑰𝒔𝒂 53:4 as the healing of our sins. This also means that God has the power to heal today, and because of the death of Christ we are assured of physical redemption someday.  

         And it in this Ordinary Time in our Liturgical Calendar that can we put into practice the lessons learned during the Liturgical Seasons which in our case – the Lenten and Easter Seasons. It is during these Ordinary Times that we as Christian disciples are being urged to look into our own lives and to work on how to deepen our faith.

        Perhaps we should begin by asking ourselves the question as to whether we have the same degree of humility to suffer ridicule in the practice of our faith. Do we feel genuine compassion for the lowly and the marginalized and not propelled by personal motives other than an authentic desire to help the poor? And when pressed, do we have the courage and boldness to come to Jesus with extraordinary faith as that of the Roman Centurion?

        There is also no such thing as blind faith and it would do us good to ask if we have been relying too much on our own competence or are we aware of our strength and weaknesses? Do we respond to people in terms of facts, or are we sensitive to the feelings of others as well as our own? Do we meet and work with people on their terms or do we demand that people come to us and play by our rules or conditions? Are we enamored by positions of being in charge, or do we submit to authority? In whom and in what do we place our faith?

         It in these trying times that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ wants us to seek Him and the coming of his kingdom because only those with extraordinary faith in Him will be invited to the great feast. This is the reward that awaits those who will put their trust in Jesus. We can all probably emulate the kind of faith the Roman Centurion had because at the end of the day when he comes, Jesus will unite all things to himself Jew and Gentile alike (𝑬𝒑𝒉 1:10).

        Faith is like the root of the tree, without which it cannot exist. It is also the first step on the road to the Kingdom of God; it is the key which opens the treasure house of all the virtues. But faith alone is not sufficient for salvation. It must be a living faith which means we must add to it good works and we must be prepared to confess it openly.

        And as we are still on the subject of faith, we certainly can draw inspiration to the example of Mary who in utter humility submitted herself and obeyed. The Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary that we are celebrating today (June 28, 2025) is seen as a triumph of faith over doubt, of hope over despair, and love over hatred.

        This is an opportunity for us to meditate on the interior life of Mary, her joy and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and above all, he love for God the Father and her maternal love for her son Jesus Christ and her motherly and compassionate love for all mankind.     

        God expects us to approach Jesus with such great faith as that of Mary - emboldened by the expectation that He will grant us His mercy and Grace. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 28, 2025)