Word to the Wise
Saturday, June 25, 2016 - Saturday in the 12th Week in Ordinary Time
[Lam 2:2, 10-14, 18-19 and Matt 8:5-17]"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof, but only say the word and my servant will be healed...." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Amen I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith." [Matthew]
The first part of this quotation should be familiar to us. We change the word, "servant," to the word, "soul," but we use the rest of the sentence. They are the words of a pagan soldier, a Roman centurion (an officer in charge of a group of 100 soldiers). They are also the words of a man who understood what power means, especially the power of a command. And they are the words of a man who had enough faith in Jesus to believe that Jesus could heal simply by wishing it to be so. The reaction of Jesus' is equally striking. He is "amazed" by the faith of this soldier and compares it more than favorably with those who were already followers!
Those of us who remember our Baltimore Catechism from way back when will remember the teaching about "baptism of desire" and "communion of desire." It is the desire for these realities that can make them real for a person who might otherwise not be able to receive baptism or the eucharist. The faith is what moves the Lord. We should keep this in mind when speaking to someone who is in a situation that prevents them from receiving those sacraments and affirm their desire even as we help them along the way to realizing full reception. It was the faith and desire of the centurion that moved Jesus. One might call it "amazing faith" that brings about "amazing grace." AMEN
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