The Lord states to the Centurion, “Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel.”
Faith is a gift that comes to us from God. Through faith we open our intellect to truth which comes to us from the one who is above. The gift of faith comes to us from grace which is bestowed on us by God, but we must also do something with this gift that has been given to us. We thus must remain open to the movement of God in our life and be willing to respond to that call that has been extended to us.
The centurion displays such an outpouring of faith. He cries out from the depths of his faith, “Lord, I am not worthy that Thou should enter under my roof: but only say the word and my servant shall be healed.” In this response the centurion points towards his unworthiness to receive such a gift. He professes trust that the Lord is able to heal at only uttering a word. He therefore had absolute confidence in the Lord’s power, he had humility, and he recognized the true dignity of the Lord. This was a true display of faith.
Our Gospel pointed out that Israel was lacking in such faith. These people had seen and heard of many great works and yet they still chose not to believe. They heard His word from His lips and yet they were found unwilling to change. Christ called them to something greater and yet they wanted to remain at a distance. Concerning them there was no humility found for they were caught up in what they were doing.
Our world is filled with many who act like those of Israel. They choose to push the Lord away from their midst in order that they may pursue a life that they think is best for them. This life if disconnected from Divine Truth will always be lacking for it is lacking relationship with God. The further that we and our society wonder away from God the more that our faith will be found lacking. Faith is not magic and we are not the dispensers of such faith.
Instead we must desire to have faith like the centurion who was mentioned in our Gospel. In such manner we must realize that faith is a gift that is given to us by God. Therefore, we must remain humble in our acceptance of it. Where our life seems to be off kilter we must place our trust in the Lord for He is the one who calms the many storms that beat us about in this life. We must realize and believe that He is God who has taken on our human flesh and dwelt among us. Let us build this relationship with Him out of love.
In the words of Saint Josemaria Escriva: “Everything is possible for one who has faith. The words are Christ’s. How is it that you don’t say to him with the apostles: Increase my faith?” Let us be like this centurion and have an increase of faith especially are we state prior to the reception of Holy Communion, “Lord, I am not worthy that you may enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” Lord, increase my faith!
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