24TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
St. Robert Bellarmine, bishop & doctor
Psalter: Week 4 / (Green/White)
Ps 40:7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 17
Proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again.
1st Reading: 1 Cor 11:17-26, 33
To continue with my advice, I cannot praise you, for your gatherings are not for the better but for the worse.
First, as I have heard, when you gather together, there are divisions among you and I partly believe it. There may have to be different groups among you, so that it becomes clear who among you are genuine. Your gatherings are no longer the Supper of the Lord, for each one eats at once his own food and, while one is hungry, the other is getting drunk. Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or perhaps you despise the Church of God and desire to humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say? Shall I praise you? For this I cannot praise you.
This is the tradition of the Lord that I received and that, in my turn, I have handed on to you; the Lord Jesus, on the night that he was delivered up, took bread and, after giving thanks, broke it, saying, “This is my body which is broken for you; do this in memory of me.” In the same manner, taking the cup after the supper, he said, “This cup is the new Covenant, in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do it in memory of me.” So, then, whenever you eat of this bread and drink from this cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord, until he comes. So then, brothers, when you gather for a meal, wait for one another.
Gospel: Lk 7:1-10
When Jesus had finished teaching the people, he went to Capernaum. A Roman military officer lived there, whose servant was very sick and near to death, a man very dear to him. So when he heard about Jesus, he sent some elders of the Jews to persuade him to come and save his servant’s life. The elders came to Jesus and begged him earnestly, saying, “He deserves this of you, for he loves our people and even built a synagogue for us.”
Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house, when the Roman officer sent friends to give this message, “Sir, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to welcome you under my roof. You see, I didn’t approach you myself. Just give the order, and my servant will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers, and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to the other, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” On hearing these words, Jesus was filled with admiration. He turned and said to the people with him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” The people, sent by the captain, went back to his house; there they found that the servant was well.
Reflections
The story of the healing of the centurion's slave makes us aware of the many blessings that come into our lives every day. Blessings are more remarkable when they come into our lives unexpectedly. Like the healing that takes place in the gospel, it happens because of the centurion’s faith and not because of his own authority and power. The centurion didn’t rely on his own power to heal his slave. He had faith. He relied on the power of God made manifest in Jesus. He believed that Jesus could heal his slave simply by saying the word. Or to put it more precisely, the centurion believed in Jesus’ own merciful authority, an authority that gave freely of itself for the sake of healing and new life. Jesus possessed a merciful authority that sought not its own gain or fame, but an authority that saved others. And who knows where this faith led the centurion. Who knows how the merciful authority of Jesus changed him. Maybe it led, not only to the healing of the slave, but also to being a follower of Jesus and, more importantly, a changed person believing in the power of God’s mercy. May we have faith like the Centurion. Who knows where this faith will lead us or transform us?
Daily Reflection 2018
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
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