June 25, 2016 - Saturday

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him,
saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.”
He said to him, “I will come and cure him.”
The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. (Matthew 8:5-8 NABRE)

How do we approach Jesus? When we pray, do we approach him with reverence and awe, or do we halfheartedly repeat words memorized by rote as a child? For many of us who have believed since childhood, it is our constant challenge and duty to approach Jesus in prayer as the centurion did in Capernaum.

This centurion was a soldier of the occupying army of Rome, probably in the service of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee.* He was a commander with substantial authority and many people answered to him. Yet the startling humility described as he approached this vagabond, itinerant carpenter--by whom it was said sick people were cured--can have only one explanation. Somehow he had come to realize that Jesus' words had power.*

When we read how the centurion approaches Jesus, there is much to admire, to imitate, and to learn from.


Today, I will approach Jesus, my Lord, with awe and reverence, certain about the power of his words.


Blessed Jutta of Thuringia, venerated for centuries as the special patron of Prussia, pray for us.

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Centurion_2_Boulogne_Luc_Viatour.jpg