Today’s Reflection
Gospel:  Mt 8: 5-17
July 01, 2023 | Saturday

Today’s Gospel

When Jesus entered Capernaum, an army captain approached him, to ask his help, “Sir, my servant lies sick at home. He is paralyzed and suffers terribly.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The captain answered, “I am not worthy to have you under my roof. Just give an order and my boy will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers. And if I say to one, ‘Go!’ he goes; and if I say to another, ‘Come!’ he comes; and if I say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was astonished; and said to those who were following him, “I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel. I say to you, many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven; but the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown out into extreme darkness; there, they will wail and grind their teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the captain, “Go home now. As you believed, so let it be.” And at that moment, his servant was healed. Jesus went to Peter’s house and found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with a fever. He took her by the hand and the fever left her; she got up and began to wait on him.

Toward evening, they brought to Jesus many people possessed by evil spirits; and with a word, he drove out the spirits. He also healed all who were sick. In this way, what was said by the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled: He bore our infirmities and took on himself our diseases.

Today’s gospel stories of the healing of the centurion’s servant, the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, and other healings, as well as exorcism, portray Jesus as a doer of miracles and a powerful healer. In all these activities, Jesus fulfills the burden-bearing role of the Isaiah servant, ‘He took our infirmities and bore diseases’(Isa 53:4). The miracles form part of Jesus’ passion – a subtle reminder of the goal of His public ministry as well as a subtle criticism of those who focus on Jesus’ miracles while ignoring His suffering and death.

In current times, the words that touch, delight, and transfigure our human hearts suggest that Christ is the healer promised to us. God’s health care program for humanity to cure all our diseases is Christ who is a doctor, medicine, and health itself. From today’s reading, let us reflect on this question—what are some forms of your diseases, and do we acknowledge Christ who exists to heal us from these diseases? /Vulnerasti, 2023