20221128 SALVATION FOR ALL NATIONS WHO HAVE FAITH
28 November, 2022, Monday, 1st Week of Advent
First reading | Isaiah 4:2-6 © |
The fruit of the earth shall be the pride and adornment of Israel's survivors
That day, the branch of the Lord
shall be beauty and glory,
and the fruit of the earth
shall be the pride and adornment
of Israel’s survivors.
Those who are left of Zion
and remain of Jerusalem
shall be called holy
and those left in Jerusalem, noted down for survival.
When the Lord has washed away
the filth of the daughter of Zion
and cleansed Jerusalem of the blood shed in her
with the blast of judgement and the blast of destruction,
the Lord will come and rest
on the whole stretch of Mount Zion
and on those who are gathered there,
a cloud by day, and smoke,
and by night the brightness of a flaring fire.
For, over all, the glory of the Lord
will be a canopy and a tent
to give shade by day from the heat,
refuge and shelter from the storm and the rain.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 121(122):1-2,4-5,6-9 © |
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
I rejoiced when I heard them say:
‘Let us go to God’s house.’
And now our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
It is there that the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord.
For Israel’s law it is,
there to praise the Lord’s name.
There were set the thrones of judgement
of the house of David.
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
For the peace of Jerusalem pray:
‘Peace be to your homes!
May peace reign in your walls,
in your palaces, peace!’
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
For love of my brethren and friends
I say: ‘Peace upon you!’
For love of the house of the Lord
I will ask for your good.
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ps79:4 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
God of hosts, bring us back:
let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 8:5-11 © |
'I am not worthy to have you under my roof: give the word, and my servant will be healed'
When Jesus went into Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded with him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘my servant is lying at home paralysed, and in great pain.’ ‘I will come myself and cure him’ said Jesus. The centurion replied, ‘Sir, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured. For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he goes; to another: Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does it.’ When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him, ‘I tell you solemnly, nowhere in Israel have I found faith like this. And I tell you that many will come from east and west to take their places with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven.’
SALVATION FOR ALL NATIONS WHO HAVE FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISAIAH 4:2-6; MATTHEW 8:5-11]
Yesterday, on the First Sunday of Advent, we came to understand that Advent speaks of God’s coming into the world, beginning with creation, the history of salvation of the Israelites, then the Incarnation, passion, death and resurrection of our Lord. His mission of restoring the meaning and purpose of History continues with the early Church and from now until His second coming, we are called to prepare our life in expectation of the Parousia, the Day of the Lord, whether it is our personal coming before the Lord or at the final judgment for all. The finality of history is therefore found only by those who have faith in God and fuller still, if this faith is founded on Christ, who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14:6), “the first and the last, the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end.” (Rev 22:13)
The finality of history, which is the restoration of creation and fulfilment of humanity, must surely include all nations, including the Gentiles, and not just the Jews. This is the theme of today’s scripture readings. Both readings focus on the salvation of the Gentiles. In the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah, it was envisioned that “all the nations will stream to it, peoples without number will come to it; and they will say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Jacob that he may teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths; since the Law will go out from Jerusalem.'” Indeed, Israel is called not just to save their own members but to save all of humanity. There must be no narrow understanding of salvation, that it is limited to the Chosen People, the children of Abraham, but for all peoples who come to acknowledge Him as the Lord.
Only then will there be true peace on earth and eternal peace in heaven. Through Israel, God “will wield authority over the nations and adjudicate between many peoples; these will hammer their swords into ploughshares, their spears into sickles. Nation will not lift sword against nation, there will be no more training for war. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” Of course, this will be possible only with the coming of Christ as the fulfilment of the hope of Israel and Jesus as the Light of the nations. There is no world peace today because of the sins and selfishness of men. Everyone is for himself and his own interests, his success, his wealth and convenience.
Jesus came to the world for all of humanity, symbolized in the Centurion in today’s gospel. Although, he did not actively seek out the Gentiles during his ministry as He was focused on building up His disciples for the promulgation of the gospel. Indeed, after His death and resurrection, very soon it was obvious that the mission of the gospel should be extended to the Gentiles at the very beginning of the Church’s mission. To this end, the early Christians looked towards Jesus in the way He ministered to the Gentiles. At the end of today’s gospel, Jesus remarked, “I tell you that many will come from the east and west to take their places with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven.” Indeed, the Kingdom of God belongs to all, regardless of nations, so long as they have faith.
The centurion was singled out as one who had greater faith than many in Israel! In fact, he was not the only centurion mentioned in the gospel. The early Church seems to have given much respect to the centurion in the New Testament. We read of how the centurion was the one who recognized Jesus as the Son of God at His death on the cross. “Truly this man was God’s Son!” (Mt 27:54) Then we read of the conversion of Cornelius, the first convert to the Christian Faith. (Acts 10) When St Paul was being attacked by the rioting mob, a centurion saved Paul. (Acts 23:17) But what is significant about this centurion was his graciousness, humility and reverence for the Lord even though he was not His disciple.
The centurion’s care for his slave was certainly an exception. He pleaded with the Lord saying, “Sir, my servant is lying at home paralysed, and in great pain.” In those days when slaves were treated almost as a non-being, made used of by his or her master as he or she liked. Clearly, this centurion treated his slave with great love, care and concern. He would even go out of the way to humble himself, notwithstanding his position, before the Lord, begging Him to come and heal his servant. He was not too proud to acknowledge the Lord as superior to him, or his inferior position as a gentile.
When our Lord saw his love, his sincerity and humility, His heart was moved. This is true for anyone of us when we see someone who is really humble in asking for a favour. The immediate response of our Lord was, “I will come myself and cure him.” Scholars suggest that a better translation would be, “Shall I come and heal him?” This was because it was not considered appropriate for a Jew to enter the house of a gentile as it would make him unclean. This barrier was erected by the Jews, not just because of ritual uncleanness but a symbolic way to underscore the greatness of Israel above other nations. This reality was often rejected, as seen by Jesus’ response to the Samaritan woman, “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.” (Jn 4:22) However, when Jesus asked the centurion this question, it was not so much because He feared He would be contaminated by the gentile, after all, He ate and drank with sinners, tax-collectors and even touched the lepers, but He did it to test the faith of the centurion and to stretch the depth of his humility.
The centurion, recognizing this need to acknowledge the special position of Israel, in humility immediately answered the Lord, “Sir, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured. For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he goes; to another: Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does it.” In these words, not only did he affirm Jesus’ authority to heal but that his request was totally insignificant to the Lord in relation to His power to heal. Hence, he told the Lord there was no need for Him to come in person since He had the authority to heal from where He was and also out of deference and respect for Him as a Jew, to avoid contaminating His ritually. He reasoned this from his own authority over his soldiers. As a centurion, he could command only because his authority came from the Roman Emperor. So too, the Lord could heal as His authority came from the God of Israel! Such was his faith in the Lord, a faith not even found among Jesus’ own people. How true also of our own people who are often indifferent to the gospel preached to them!
Truly, if we too have the faith of the centurion, we can be saved and healed by the Lord. Jesus made it clear that the Messianic banquet was not only for the Jews but all who have faith like the centurion. The key to enter the kingdom of God is more than just membership alone. It is not enough to be Catholic, unless we have a deep relationship with the Lord and live the life of the gospel. We too might suffer the same fate of the Jews; be shut out of the kingdom if we take our faith for granted. Like many of our nominal Catholics, we will not be able to welcome Christ when He comes because we cannot recognize His presence in the poor, the suffering, the lonely and among our loved ones.
Most of all, today, we are called to bring the gospel to all the nations. The Centurion foreshadows the conversion of gentiles into the faith. The Church, in preparing for the coming of Christ, must reach out to those who do not yet know Him. We can be so myopic, forgetting that the gospel must go beyond the walls of our churches and our parish boundaries. It is not enough just to save those who are already saved and know Christ, but we should be courageous and share our faith by word and deed with those communities and people who have yet to hear the gospel. The ironical thing is that those who hear the gospel for the first time recognize the Lord’s presence more than many of us who are supposedly going to church and receiving the sacraments because we have become complacent.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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