Breaking the Word

24^th Week in Ord. Time, Tuesday – 13^th September 2022 — Gospel: Lk 7,11-17

God Keeps Visiting

In today’s reading it is Jesus who makes an approach to a man already dead. There is no question of faith here but Jesus only expresses sympathy for the widow’s difficult situation.  At the recognition of the intervention and manifestation of the power of God, the people are filled with awe and break forth into praise. The people further exclaimed that in Jesus, God has visited his people. The verb ‘to visit’ signifies a special intervention of God, at times to judge and to punish people when they are guilty, but most often to save and to bless. In the OT the liberation from the slavery of Egypt was the most important visit of God (Ex 3,16; 4,31). At the time of Judges God visited the people with punishment when they sinned, and raised up a new liberator for them when they repented. In Jesus Christ we have the supreme and final visit of God (Lk 1,68). But Jerusalem did not recognize the time of his visitation (Lk 19,44) and was deprived of the salvation he offered.

24^th Week in Ord. Time, Monday – 12^th September 2022 — Gospel: Lk 7,1-10

Admirable Faith

The Gospel presents the Roman centurion’s faith response in Jesus. The emphasis in the miracle is given to the power of Jesus’ word that would heal from a distance. Just as the centurion acts by commanding his subordinates, he expects Jesus to do the same. The point that emerges in the story is Jesus’ affirmation and surprise of the centurion’s faith. Where Jesus would have expected to find faith in an Israelite, here he finds it in a Gentile. Jesus encounters a centurion who is both humble and filled with faith, even though he is not technically a “believer.” Thus, the centurion’s faith is an inspiration to everyone despite all evidence contrary to the usual.