243. Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)

Meditations no. 576 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Efficacy of the centurion’s humble faith.

AT THAT time, when he had finished saying all these words to the people who were listening to him, he entered Capernaum. A long day’s work is coming to an end, and Our Lord is preparing to return home to regain his strength. A group of elders from Israel are waiting for his return to convey an urgent request: there was a centurion there who had a sick servant who was about to die, whom he esteemed very highly. Having heard of Jesus, he sent some elders of the Jews to beg him to come and heal his servant.

The centurion is a remarkable personage, certainly of good position; he has the authority corresponding to his rank and does not lack economic means, which he uses in favor of others. He is gentile, but pious and God-fearing; he has discovered the truth in the chosen people and his affection for the one God has led him to render important services to the Jews who are in his jurisdiction. That good and generous man is also grateful and big-hearted: a servant who has worked for many years in his house is seriously ill. Nothing, if it is not a miracle, can save his life. He has heard about Jesus, his doctrine and the wonders he performs. On the other hand, he knows that the Jews are jealous of their traditions and that they do not usually deal with Gentiles like him. He finds himself without merit or authority to implore this great favor and sends some important Jews. When they came to Jesus, they begged him earnestly, saying: “He deserves you to do this, because he appreciates our people and he himself has built the synagogue for us.” So Jesus set out with them.

The Master does not hesitate to respond to the request of a soul that needs him, despite tiredness and fatigue, with complete availability. Once again, with a smile on his lips, he immediately sets off.

The news of Christ’s arrival preceded the procession, and someone must have announced to the centurion: “The Master is coming to your house and is near.” The man makes a last attempt to spare Jesus the inconveniences of dealing with a Gentile. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent some friends to him to say, “Lord, do not take this trouble, for I am not worthy to have you enter my house; therefore I have not even considered myself worthy to go to meet you. But say it by word of mouth, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man subject to discipline, and I have soldiers under my command. I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

With total confidence in the power of Jesus Christ, and with an eloquent example taken from the exercise of his profession, the centurion finds a way to show his respect for the Lord: those who have the empire command and are obeyed. A word to convey the order is enough if the ascendancy over the subordinate is great. The centurion believes with all his strength that life and death, health and sickness are completely subject to Christ. Jesus Christ is God, and God can do everything.

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith in Israel.” Jesus is moved and amazed at the extraordinary faith of the centurion, who deserves this praise of his. “Having such great faith, he judged himself unworthy. But Christ, showing that he was worthy to have him enter his house, gives him greater gifts, for he admires and exalts him and grants him more than he asked for. For he came to seek bodily health for his servant, but he returned after receiving the kingdom. Do you see how the saying, ‘Seek the kingdom of heaven, and the rest of things will be given to you as well?’ Because he has shown great faith and humility, he gives him heaven and adds to him the bodily health of his servant; and not only did he honor him so greatly in this way, but he also showed him how he entered the kingdom after other more important ones had been expelled.”

A trusting and humble prayer pleases God more than many words.

THE MARVELOUS faith of the centurion is a school of prayer. In the interior life it is soon realized that we can do nothing by ourselves and that all good comes from God. We must ask him for what we need, materially and spiritually, in the apostolate, in fraternity, in service to the Church and to souls, at the same time that we provide, by God’s will, the human means to find solutions.

You grew up in the face of the difficulties of the apostolate, praying thus: “Lord, you are the same as always. Give me the faith of those men who knew how to respond to your grace and who worked-in your name-great miracles, true wonders… .” And you concluded: “I know that you will do them; but I also know that you want to be asked, that you want us to seek you, that we knock loudly at the doors of your Heart.”

-In the end, you renewed your decision to persevere in humble and trusting prayer.

It helps us to repeat very often the request of the Apostles: Lord, teach us to pray. Knowing how to pray, with words that reach the Heart of the Lord, is an essential science to honor Him and to achieve what is necessary in His service. Today we are reminded, in the Gospel of the Mass, that the prayer most pleasing to God is not the one that contains many words but the request of the humble and faith-filled person.

Prayer, remember, is not about making pretty speeches, grandiloquent or comforting phrases… .

Prayer is sometimes a look at an image of the Lord or his Mother; at other times, a petition, with words; at other times, the offering of good works, of the results of fidelity… .

Like the soldier who is on guard, so we must be at the door of God our Lord: and that is prayer. Or as a dog is thrown at the feet of its master.

“Don’t mind telling him: Lord, here I am like a faithful dog; or rather, like a donkey, who will not kick those who love him.”

The Lord, who looks at the heart of man, does not expect us to move his mercy on the basis of witty or beautiful phrases, because it would be ridiculous to pretend that our poor words are at the height of the beauty or intelligence of God. What moves his Will is our extreme indigence, even to express ourselves adequately. In this way, by manifesting his power and our need, we will obtain from the Lord what we ask for, at the same time that we accept in all his will.

This is the way of the Christian, our Father tells us. It is necessary to cry out tirelessly, with a strong and humble faith: Lord, do not trust in me. I do trust in you. And when we sense in our souls the love, compassion, tenderness with which Christ Jesus looks at us, because he does not abandon us, we will understand in all their depth the words of the Apostle: virtus in infirmitate perficitur (2 Cor 12:9); with faith in the Lord, in spite of our miseries - or rather, with our miseries - we will be faithful to our Father God; divine power will shine, sustaining us in the midst of our weakness.

It is also a grace of God to sense in our hearts, while we pray in all circumstances, the tenderness with which Christ Jesus looks at us, because we realize that this is the way to pray, to obtain the graces that the Church, the Work, and souls need.

The humble faith that must accompany our prayers to the Blessed Trinity is within everyone’s reach, and the possibility of praying in this way fills us with confidence; so we can repeat with St. Josemaría: Prayer-even mine! -is omnipotent.

Turning to our intercessors in Heaven.

THE humble FAITH of the centurion offers us another lesson on prayer. That good and generous man, finding himself without titles to present himself before the Lord, seeks intermediaries to make his request more effective. First he went to some elders of the Jews, people whom he judges close to God because of their knowledge and virtues. These personages present to the Lord the great qualities of the centurion: he deserves that you do this. Their prayers also move Jesus Christ, who set out with them.

Later on, it was some friends of the centurion, perhaps those who accompanied him in those sad hours, who interceded before the Master, bringing their humble request. And again their intercession was very effective, because they knew how to show the Lord-with their embassy-the obedient faith of the centurion.

We must do the same: we must go to those we have in Heaven so that they may intercede for us. We all need a lot of company, children: the company of Heaven and earth. Be devoted to the Angels and the Archangels and the Saints, to our Patron Saints and Intercessors! Friendship is very human, but it is also very divine; like our life, which is human and divine. Do you remember what the Lord says: iam non dicam vos servos … , vos autem dixi amicos (Jn 15:15); I no longer call you servants, but friends. We must have friendship with the friends of God, who already dwell in Heaven.

They do possess titles to ask God for our needs. These blessed souls are linked to us for many reasons; especially those who have supernatural, family or friendship ties. “They contemplate God, praise him and do not cease to care for those who are left on earth. By entering ‘into the joy’ of their Lord, they have been ‘constituted above much’ (cf. Mt 25:21). Their intercession is their highest service to God’s plan. We can and must pray to them to intercede for us and for the whole world.”

The spirit of the Work leads us to constant contact with the Virgin and Saint Joseph, with the Holy Guardian Angels, with our Patrons and intercessors, with the blessed souls in Purgatory. Their feasts, the Customs that our Father has left us to deal with, are a formidable help to ask for their intercession. Going to different intercessors does not imply an accumulation of devotions, but something natural, as is natural to deal with many friends, relatives and acquaintances. There are various nuances and circumstances by which we address one or the other differently, without abandoning any one.

Since June 26, 1975, we have had St. Josemaría as a very powerful intercessor, to whom we have recourse at all times in order to be faithful. His first successor in the Work wrote: “I need to repeat to you, so that it may be deeply engraved in our souls, and that we may transmit it from generation to generation, that we must be grateful for all the efforts of our Founder for each one of us-first on earth and now in Heaven-and to have recourse confidently to his intercession. The Lord will hear our petitions sooner and better, if we make them known to him through this natural intercessor who is our Father for us, and he will grant us everything we need so that our service to the Church and to souls may be carried out with the efficiency that the Most Blessed Trinity expects.”

Our principal intercessor is always the Blessed Virgin, who, by an explicit will of the Creator, is the Mother of God and our Mother. She, Mediatrix of all graces and of all our petitions, makes our prayer fruitful in the presence of God. In the first place, she inspires it to be pleasing to the Lord. How many acts of contrition, motions to lift up the heart to God the Father, small and great resolutions of a child who wants to behave better, have come to us through his intercession!

Moreover, Our Lady has been singularly good with the Work, she has had the tenderness of a mother with us. In moments not of discouragement, but of anxiety, She deigned to send extraordinary help and consolations. And each one of us, if we look back on our memory, how many favors and graces we will find, which have come to us through her intercession! The consequence we must draw is clear: to redouble our love for the Mother of God, to lean with more confidence in her power, to make our dealings with her more assiduous and attentive.