9th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Galatians 1:1-2,6-10
Luke 7:1-10
“…I am not worthy
to have you under my roof…
but give the word
and my servant will be cured.”
Last
Sunday we meditated on how important words are in human relationship. They are
an expression of what is in man’s heart and mind. Today, we are taught with
another significant role of words in human dealings, i.e., a word carries
with it a certain authority. This we find in the dialogue between Christ and
the centurion. But the message the gospel wants to portray is focused on the
faith of the centurion. Jesus himself exclaims: “I tell you not even in
Israel have I found faith like this.” Jesus must have found certain
remarkable qualities in the centurion, which enabled the latter’s faith to
blossom and gain for itself the admiration of our Lord. Let us try to discover
these qualities and meditate on them.
1. The centurion’s faith is founded on
love. The gospel seems to suggest that the centurion is by nature a loving man.
This we can deduce from the concern he has over his servant who is terribly
sick. Secular literature tells us how the prevalent Hellenism understands
slavery as a natural institution. A slave seems to have only an inch advantage
over a mere thing, i.e., he is a living being. But aside from that, he is
nothing else than a working tool. Thus, he possesses no right whatsoever and is
simply disposable anytime. Now, the centurion goes beyond this societal
convention and treats his slave with special concern. He regards him as more
than what society thinks of a slave should be. Of course, we are not sure
whether he considers his slave a fellow human with an almost equal footing as a
free man. That would be too much to suppose, although his close acquaintances
with the disciples and the lord himself may open to such possibility. All we
are told and know about is the fact of how this centurion takes the initiative
for his servant’s cure. Knowing how difficult the situation has become, “he
sent Jewish elders to ask him (Jesus) to come and heal his servant.” All
this he does because of his love; or better, because the centurion is a loving
man.
2. The centurion is friendly by nature.
Jews and Romans have natural enmity at each other. Jews hate Romans, Romans
despise the Jews. But the Roman centurion is different. He seems to have been
endowed with nature’s gift of friendship. This the Jewish elders confirm as
they earnestly plead with the Lord: “He deserves this of you because he is
friendly towards our people.” The same elders even go as far as telling
Jesus that this friendly centurion is the one responsible for the building of
their synagogue. In short, the centurion’s friendship or friendliness bears
fruit in generosity.
Friendliness
is fundamental. Everybody just wants to be friendly, and nobody wants to be
unfriendly. But not everybody is gifted with this virtue. More so, friendliness
and generosity going together is quite rare. There are just several variations
to this. On the one hand, there are also people who are also friendly but can
hardly give a cent to others, even to his friends. On the other hand, there are
also people who are so generous but can hardly make a friendly smile even to those
who benefit their generosity. The latter are simply generous for generosity’s
sake, as the former are friendly for friendliness’s sake. But aside from them,
there are even others who are generous because they are not friendly, or
friendly because they are not generous. And worst of all, there are just those
who are neither friendly nor generous. This last group must be the most
unfortunate ones - - - to the rare species of humans who are naturally born
friendly and generous. That is why he easily wins the favor of the elders.
3. But over and above his natural gifts of
friendliness and generosity is the most delicate virtue of humility: “Sir,
do not put yourself to trouble; for I am not worthy to have you under my
roof…” The centurion is just so
humble. The roof (house) is an extension of one’s person. As an extension, a
dwelling place speaks in many ways for the dweller. Being a centurion, his roof
must be presentable. But even then, he stoops with all humility. This becomes
intriguing. Is he referring directly to his physical dwelling, or to something
else? There is no big reason that forbids us to suppose that he is, but the
gospel seems to suggest something more profound. The “roof” which the
centurion talks about is not really the extension of his person but his very
own person. He knows he is no Jew and understands what it means to be so. And
added to it are perhaps his failures and shortcomings as a man. This could be
the reason why he considers himself unworthy. But even then, only a person with
a pious conscience and a humble heart is able to acknowledge his unworthiness.
4. “But give your word and my servant
will be cured.” All the natural virtues of the centurion lead to one
climatic point: faith. The dialogue between Jesus and the centurion confirms
it. The words that come out of the centurion’s mouth are no mere rhetoric. By
profession, he knows what he says. To him, this thing is clear. Word is
authority and power. “For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers
under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he goes; to another: come here, and he
comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does it.” Being Roman and exposed to
Hellenism, he must have been familiar with the Platonic Logos. And being
a close friend to the Jews, he could have been familiar too with the power of
the word in the creation story. But what is commending in him is the fact that
he is so able to translate whatever learning he has into his very own
experience. And more so, he relates it to the healing power of Christ. If his
subordinates obey him by mere words of command, there is no reason why Jesus
cannot cure his servant by his word. This is the proposition upon which he
bases his faith. We have all the good reasons to suppose that he already hears
many things about Christ, from the good news he preaches to the miracles he
performs. But it is his faith so great as this that makes the difference.
Indeed, he is just that unworthy to have the lord under his roof, but such is
his faith in the lord’s word that his dying servant will be healed.
With
this, we see how the pagan centurion sets an undying example of faith. This
forms part of our liturgical formula in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
Just before we partake the holy food, we utter the words of the centurion. This
must make us realize that we are in many ways unworthy too. But we welcome the
lord under our “roofs” that we too may be healed. In other words, we receive
the lord not because we are good, but because we want to be good.
“…I
am not worthy to have you under my roof…but give the word and my servant will
be cured.”