RBWords

     These words from today's gospel scripture should be familiar to us.  We say them at every celebration of the Eucharist just before filing out of the pews to receive communion.  They are so familiar, in fact, that they can lose a lot of the significance they had in the story of the healing of the centurion's servant.  The centurion understood the power of command and had somehow heard enough about Jesus to awaken faith in a command from Jesus!

     Nowadays, the expression, "Words matter!" is popular, especially during those presidential "debates."  A slip of the tongue can be costly or the right "zinger" can skewer an opponent.  We Dominicans truly embrace the expression because we are the Order of Preachers!  The biblical sense of "word" could mean the reality itself, and not just spoken sound.  Jesus' word was equivalent to Jesus himself  That is why the Second Vatican Council, in speaking about "real presence," tells us that Christ is truly present in his word.  The right word spoken in a homily can change a life!  I have had the experience of someone saying to me after Mass, "How did you know that I really needed to hear what you said today?"  {It happens with THE WORD TO THE WISE, too!]

     We associate the words of the centurion with the Eucharist, but that was not their original context.  It was faith in Jesus' word that made the difference.  Can we have that kind of faith?  AMEN