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| JESUS HEALING THE CENTURION'S SERVANT. Image from wikipaintings.org via google.com |
When Jesus heard these words he was astonished at him
and, turning around, said to the crowd following him,
'I tell you, not even in Israel have I found
faith as great as this.'
One great thing about the Holy Mass is its being Scripturally-based celebration though a lot of anti-Catholics claim that it is not in the Bible. One may not see the entire Mass in just one verse or even chapter or book of the Bible but its parts are truly Biblically-inspired. The Holy Mass actually is one celebration wherein the Church teaches us the Gospel in its proper application.
In case you didn't you know yet, one of the Biblical passages that can be found in the celebration of the Mass is this:
"Domine, non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum ..."
which the new translation of the Holy Mass states as
"Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof ..." [see Matthew 8:8; Luke 7:6]. Formerly, we have been answering the priest after He raises the Body of Christ with the words, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" - another Biblical passage which John the Baptist spoke to his disciples to describe the Lord Jesus Christ who was then coming towards them [see John 1:29] - with "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you ...".
Non sum dignus. I am not worthy: what a real manifestation of humility and from someone who do not even belong to the Jewish community but from a Roman soldier. The report of the Jews regarding the man was surely founded [see Luke 7: 4-5].
Here in St Luke's account, the centurion didn't even face Jesus our Lord. He didn't consider himself worthy to be seen by him instead he just sent friends to tell Him that he believes that He could cure his servant even by merely saying the word for he himself understands the meaning of authority [see Luke 7: 6-8]. [In Matthew 8: 5-10 the centurion was face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ.]
His humility which manifested his great faith earned him his servant's health back. When the centurion's friends came back to his house, the servant was already cured [see Luke 7:10]. He had such great faith that the Lord even showed that He was astonished and He pointed out to the crowd following Him that not even in Israel have I found faith as great as this! [see Luke 7:9].
There are times we notice that other people, non-Catholics at that, seem to be more blessed and graced than us. We observe that there are many who are not even Christians who seem to manifest greater faith, hope and love than us. We should not be envious of these. Instead we should be challenged to be more faithful, more hopeful, and more loving. God is great and generous, He gives opportunity to all even those who do not yet know Him, even to those who have been told about Him but are not yet acknowledging Him, and even to those who have already acknowledged Him and still rejected Him, etc. Our mission is to love one another so that the world may know that we are the Lord's disciples and friends [see John 14: 34-35] so that the world may be led into the one Fold [see John 10:16].
There is no room in our hearts for envy. We don't have the right to question God even when we think He seems to be favoring others -even non-Christians in fact - more than us. We must humbly submit to His plans and be like the centurion telling Him that we are not worthy about many things but that we believe in His word and His word is love, friendship and salvation!
The next time someone who does not belong to the Church does something holy, let us give thanks to the Lord and praise His name!
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