"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience," (Col 3:12)

Lk 7:1-10

When Jesus had finished all his words to the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave who was ill and about to die, and he was valuable to him. When he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and save the life of his slave. They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying, "He deserves to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us." And Jesus went with them, but when he was only a short distance from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed. For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, Go, and he goes;and to another, Come here, and he comes; and to my slave, Do this, and he does it." When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him and, turning, said to the crowd following him, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." When the messengers returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

In today's gospel we meet a man who represents great humility and nobility. Although he did not know Christ and never actually saw Him because he did not meet Him face to face, he nevertheless found a faith that allowed him to become incredibly closer to the Lord, as Jesus says in the words: I have not found such faith in Israel. Such great faith, even though he had not seen the Savior even for a moment. I often meet people who say that they would like to see Christ, touch Him, would like Christ to reveal Himself to them. This is a good and beautiful intention that certainly comes from pure faith and piety, but in today's Gospel I see that the most important thing is the desire, the desire to meet Christ. Is desire enough? Of course not, but it's the basis for something deeper. I don't have to see God physically to desire Him, to experience Him, to meet Him. I know it may sound strange: how can you not know someone and still meet them? However, I can see someone not only through the eyes of the body, but also through the eyes of the heart. We also see God with the desire of the heart and we maintain relationship with Him primarily at the level of the heart, because that is where our faith is born and resides. Although this Centurion did not see God face to face, he saw Him and felt Him with his heart, and it was his heart, provoked by the desire for God, that awakened in himself the faith that led to the miracle of healing his servant. God appreciated his faith, but also his humility, because God himself is humble. Only people as humble as Him can see Him. God does not impose himself on man, and often man imposes himself on God. In this gospel, man gives priority to God, it is man who leaves this space of freedom to God, believing that God will begin to act in his life, that His will will be fulfilled, and whatever it is, it will be good for man. This is an expression of great humility: to give God freedom, to let Him act in His own way in our lives, not to impose, not to dictate, not to force, but to give God first place. If God wants, he will fulfill everything we need without any fireworks or spectacular actions. All we need to do is approach Him with humility, the same with which He reaches out to us.

Father Marcin Cwierz, OSPPE

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"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience," (Col 3:12)