Today's Gospel

Be Part of the Prophecy

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant. Our reading today comes from the Gospel of Matthew chapter eight, verses 5 through 17. As Jesus entered Capernaum, the centurion came forward to him, beseeching him and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home in terrible distress." And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion answered him, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I am a man under authority with soldiers under me. I say to one go, and he goes. I say to another come and he comes. And to my slave do this and he does it." When Jesus heard him, he marbled and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." I tell you many will come from east and west and sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. While the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, their men will weep and gnash their teeth. And to the centurion, Jesus said, "Go, be it done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.

When Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she rose and served him. That evening, they brought to him many who were possessed with demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. He took our infirmities and bore our distress. It's a great reading. It's an epic story. Obviously, you've got that one line that we have in the Mass from the centurion. "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof." It's a beautiful, beautiful phrase. But there's the faith of the centurion that amazed even Jesus. Just this practical faith that-- I've got soldiers. I say, go, they go. I say, come, they come. You're Jesus. You say this, it happens. You say that it happens. It's just an extraordinary, really a simple faith, but a very practical and powerful faith. And then Jesus comes to Peter's house and heals his mother and-- mother-in-law rather and casts out demons, heals everyone who's sick. But the phrase that struck me the most was the last. And the preceding sentence says, "All this was done to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah," which is, "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases." And so the question I have for you today is, how do you want Jesus to do that for you today? He took our infirmities and bore our diseases. It's interesting. It doesn't say he healed our diseases, bore our diseases, to bear our diseases. That's different, right? That's different. Took our infirmities and bore our diseases. What does that mean to you today? What infirmities do you need Jesus to take? What disease do you need Jesus to bear today? So that again, the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah can be fulfilled here, now, in our time, in our lives. Have a great day. And remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.