“Lord, I am not worthy that You enter under my roof.But only say the word and my soul shall be healed…”
I have been reflecting on a passage of the Gospel over the last few days, and was particularly moved by a certain word used in the translation of the original text…
“…There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to Him, asking Him to come and heal his servant… He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: ‘Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.’ When Jesus heard this, he was ASTONISHED...” (Luke 1:2-9, emphasis added).
And although I could see the words of the centurion have been included in the Holy Sacrament of the Mass that were used in the Holy Mass then and now, it is not those words that drew my eye today, but the reaction of Christ, who was ASTONISHED by the faith of the centurion…
And I have been reflecting on that astonishment of my Beloved. For I imagine that there are very few times that Christ was astonished. In fact, I cannot remember ever having seen a single instance in the Gospels where it was Christ who was astonished and not someone else who was astonished.
And I have been thinking about this astonishment of Christ… For that centurion had such great faith in God that Christ – God Himself – stopped in His tracks ASTONISHED… And I have been wondering, how my faith would compare. You see that centurion had only heard good things about Christ. He did not understand that Christ was God. And yet, still – only having heard about Christ – he had such magnificent faith that God Himself was astonished by it…
And this is interesting to me. Saint John Vianney said that if Christ had taken into account our “worthiness” He would never have instituted the Blessed Eucharist. But instead, He took into account only His LOVE for us. And when I think about that centurion, I consider how much LOVE God had for the soul who had such faith, that even though that soul was “not worthy that You should enter under my roof”, his soul (and his servant) was healed.
And such faith – that believes even without Christ entering the room – is such a wonder to behold that Christ Himself is astonished… During the 1970s in Communist Vietnam, many religious people were imprisoned. Inside one of the prison cells, carved using a piece of stone, one imprisoned, unnamed priest, carved a giant Host and Chalice. As he had been unable to celebrate Holy Mass, he had spent his days adoring the Eucharist. In his own way, that unnamed priest must surely have ASTONISHED Christ. For He knew the power of God, even though God – in the Eucharist – never entered that place. And in a way, he prayed the prayer of the centurion…
And I marvel to think of the ASTONISHMENT of God in reaction to such faith as that…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
コメント