Reflection #2 12th Saturday in Ordinary Time

(This was a short reflection for a communion service I presided over)

Taken from Matthew 8:5-17.  For the 5:30 PM Communion Service at Our Lady of the Desert


There was once a group of people giving out soup and sandwiches to the poor outside of a Catholic center.  Many people came forward to be fed, for they were very hungry.  There was a woman standing on the side, watching the crowd of people, but she was afraid to approach and ask for food.  One of the people serving noticed her and went over to offer he something to eat.  The woman was very hungry, but she declined saying, "Thank you, but I'm not Catholic."  The man smiled and answered her, "We won't refuse to feed you because you're not Catholic.  We will feed you because we are Catholic."

I sometimes think, as Catholics and Christians, that we believe we have a monopoly on faith and maybe even goodness.  If someone is not Catholic or Christian, we might be tempted to think they are less than us.  After all, if they don't believe in Jesus, how can they be good people?  It is an attitude I have seen too much.

Today, we see Jesus proclaim that this centurion has more faith than anyone in all of Israel.  Jesus believed in the covenant.  He believed that the Jewish people were special and that they were the chosen.  And yet, it is a Roman, not only a foreigner, but a heathen, whom he declared has the greatest faith he has ever seen.

The centurion had authority.  When he gave orders to other men, they obeyed without question.  Jesus commands us to love each other.  Are we following his order?  We gossip about each other, we let pride get in our way, or selfishness, or greed.  We judge others or we refuse to help someone because they've upset us.  But we don't let that stop us from calling ourselves Christians, do we?  Jesus says in today's Gospel what happens to those who say they have faith in God but do not live it: "They will be driven out into the outer darkness."  Let that be none of us here.  Let God say to us, "Well done my good and faithful servant.  Enter now into your reward."  AMEN.