Monday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
As I was reading today’s gospel reading I was struck by the phrase “he deserves to have you do this.” This makes me wonder, “What do we deserve and do we always receive what we deserve?” As I look around at our nation and the world, I see people suffering from natural disasters, violence, poverty and war. Do these people deserve this? In no way do I believe that God designs these circumstances because the people involved somehow deserve to be punished. As we see so often from the life of Jesus, God’s vision is so far beyond our understanding and expectation. God is always ready to give us His love, grace and mercy. This does not mean that our lives will be without difficulties, but it does mean we will always have what we need- God’s presence in our lives- if only we ask and believe.
The gospel reading today tells the story of Jesus and the centurion. This Roman official has a slave who is about to die but is “valuable” to him. He requests the Jewish elders to ask Jesus to heal his servant. The elders explain to Jesus that the centurion “deserves” to have this favor, since he has been helpful to the Jewish community in Capernaum. So does Jesus heal the slave because the centurion deserves this special treatment? There are so many healings that occur in the gospels. Does Jesus act out of obligation for those people who have been particularly kind or helpful to him?
I do not believe that Jesus responds to this Roman official with mercy because He has earned this special favor. In fact, as I think about the centurion, the motive for him requesting the healing of his servant is based more on his desire for the servant to continue working for his master- not because the centurion has deep care or concern for this person. Jesus does not use the criteria that the centurion’s good deeds have earned Jesus’ intervention.
The one thing that sets the centurion apart is his great faith and his humility. The centurion does not feel worthy to go to Jesus or even allow Jesus to come into His home. He has great faith in Jesus’ spoken word and this allows the healing to occur. Just like so many other people in the gospel, Jesus recognizes a need for healing, and if the person is open and accepting of His grace- Jesus pours out His power. He does not base His forgiveness, healing, mercy or love on the worthiness of the recipient-it is available for all people. Oftentimes the people who are healed are considered the outsiders- the unclean lepers, the prostitutes, the poor and the widows. They do nothing to deserve their healing, but because of their humble yearning for Jesus’ touch- they are made whole.
In the first reading, St. Paul tells Timothy (and all of us), that Christ Jesus gave “himself as ransom for all.” St. Paul reminds us that we are to intercede on behalf of all people with “supplications, prayers and petitions.” We are not called to just pray for those people who are kind, who are our friends, or for those who deserve our prayers. All people are deserving of the power of God’s love and mercy. As disciples of Christ, we are encouraged to bring all people to Christ in prayer since God “wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.”
So the challenge for us is not to approach God with demands of what we think we deserve, but to approach Him with a deep humility and trust in our need for His grace. We deserve nothing, since God has already given us everything that we have and all that we are. It is recognizing our dependence on Him and by placing our lives in His Hands that we can be filled with His grace. God never promised a life without suffering, in fact Jesus showed us that when we surrender to God we will certainly suffer just as He did in His passion and death on the cross. The beauty of the Good News is that our suffering, sorrow, and death is actually transformed through God’s grace. We can never deserve God’s love, peace, and mercy, since this implies that we have done something to earn such a gift. Our God is far too generous to base His giving on whether a person is worthy of His gift. It is when we recognize our need for God, and ask for His help, that He will give us what we need- not what we deserve- His love, grace, peace, and mercy- and eternal life with Him.
Loving Father, You sent Jesus to show us Your love is for all people. Through the power of Your Spirit may our lives bring others to knowledge of You and your truth. May we humbly follow Your Son and thereby bring you glory. We pray this through Christ our LORD. Amen.
- Marylynn Herchline