Daily Gospel Reflection for September 18, 2023

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Today's Gospel: Luke 7:1-10

The story of the centurion in today’s Gospel is one that always gets me pondering. The centurion—who is presumably a well-off Roman soldier—is asking for healing for his slave. Slaves were, by their nature, replaceable, expendable. The fact that he cared enough to ask this Jewish miracle worker for help speaks volumes.

Secondly, the centurion doesn’t see himself as worthy to meet Jesus and ask in person. “I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof,” he shares through his friends. In a world where we seem to have very different priorities and expectations in our interactions with people, this can strike us as strange.

The centurion clarifies, through his friends:

“For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come here, and he comes; and to my slave, Do this, and he does it.”

Apparently, in first-century Israel, this mindset was as striking as it is to our 21st-century ears, because Jesus was amazed.

What does it take to amaze the Son of God? Being like the centurion in our faith.

We repeat the centurion’s words at every Mass, and maybe that can be our guidance to reach that faith. Faith is a gift, and one that can feel hard-won and slippery. One day I’m full of confidence in God and the next . . . not so much.

Today, may the example of the centurion fill my actions and inspire my approach. May I lean into Jesus and let Him heal me.

Ponder:

When will you pause today to spend time with Jesus? How can you invite Him under the roof of your being and sit with Him?

Pray:

Jesus, thank You for the gift of Your Word. Guide me today and make me worthy of the gift of this day.

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What does it take to amaze the Son of God? Being like the centurion in our faith. #DailyGospel

Copyright 2023 Sarah Reinhard