Monday, December 02, 2013. 1st Week of Advent
First Reading: Is 4:2-6
Gospel Reading:
Mt 8:5-11
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 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.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in
the Assimilated Life
Experience)
Today’s Gospel challenges our faith as the Liturgy takes us to the season of Advent. The faith story of the junior officer is instructive. After he acknowledged his unworthiness to have Jesus in his house he said to Jesus, “Just give an order and my boy will be healed”. We notice two movements in the junior officer’s manifestation of faith. First he brought himself low by acknowledging that he was no worthy to have Jesus under his roof. Second he raised Jesus high by saying that Jesus could heal his boy by mere words. His act of humility won Jesus’ heart.
Humility remains an efficient tool for us to deepen our faith. Faith without humility is the Faith of the Pharisee who prayed: “I thank you Lord for I am not like that man…..” Jesus rejected this kind of faith. He preferred the faith of the Publican who couldn’t even raise his head while asking for mercy and forgiveness.
I like the way God is described as living water because it underlines the importance of humility in all who come to him for grace. Water seeks the lowest level. As living water, God pours himself generously to those who stoop low. Just as water cannot flow higher than itself, God won’t dwell in people who position themselves higher than God. The faith story of the junior officer demonstrates what humble faith means. Because he stooped low, living water flowed unto his household. It was then that his boy got healed even without Jesus’ physical presence.
Advent is supposed to prepare us for the birth of a God who reduced himself to the lowest term. Let’s start the advent season from the lowest. As one gains momentum by stooping low before jumping so we gain momentum in our spiritual growth if we learn to stoop low in humility. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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