Daily Gospel Reflection for June 30, 2018

Today's Gospel: Matthew 8:5-17 In today’s Gospel, the centurion tells Jesus that he (the centurion) is not worthy for Jesus to enter his roof. In the back of my mind, I would be thinking about the mess that Our Lord would probably encounter in my house! This Gospel is not about how clean the house is, but about faith and authority. The faith of the centurion that Jesus will heal his servant and the authority the centurion feels in Jesus, his “boss,” and the men he commands. Jesus couldn’t believe it! He had never found anyone in Israel with such faith! Jesus granted the healing of the servant just by saying so. Which leaves us with a bit of dilemma. How often have we prayed for the healing of a loved one? How often were those prayers answered? Is our faith any less because there was no healing? When my in-laws were in their last days, I learned a valuable lesson. I learned to unite my will with the will of God. It was difficult. I wanted my in-laws to live long lives and be there for the grandchildren. When it became obvious that wasn’t going to happen, I had to trust God’s will. I had to have faith in His authority. The centurion put his faith and authority completely in Jesus. Jesus' amazement would have been worth seeing, don’t you think?