Word to the Wise
Saturday, June 25, 2011 - Saturday in the 12th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 18:1-15 and Matt 8:5-17,1000]But the Lord said to Abraham: "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I really bear a child, old as I am?' Is anything too marvelous for the Lord to do? [Genesis] Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. [Matt]
Now THERE's a question that can make one stop and think a moment! "Is anything too marvelous for the Lord to do?" In the case of today's scriptures, we are dealing with a woman past the age of child-bearing [Genesis] and a centurion with a sick favorite servant! [gospel] Sarah is presumably a person of faith (but skeptical) and the centurion is presumably a pagan Roman! Their reactions to the possibilities of God are very different! Who could blame Sarah for being a bit skeptical? But the Lord challenges her on her skepticism and basically says, "Just you wait and see! I'll show you!" The centurion provides an interesting contrast. He is willing to settle for "distance healing." His response does something that we don't hear much in the gospels. He amazes Jesus with his faith! If I had to guess, I'd guess that most of us would like to be like the centurion but we're really more like Sarah, right? Don't raise your hands. Just think about it.
A physician friend once told me that he regularly warned medical students to "respect their ignorance." We don't know everything there is to know. Hamlet's warning to Horatio about his "philosophy" which can get in the way of the "heavens" is a good one for us to bear in mind. The question addressed to Abraham is also addressed to us: Is anything too marvelous for the Lord to do? I hope not! AMEN