“I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’” - Daily Reflections December 1,2014

THE MASTER WHO CARES

 

The centurions or the Roman officers were the backbone of the Roman Army. In a Roman legion there were 6,000 men; the legion was divided into 60 centuries, each containing 100 men, and in command of each century there was a centurion. A centurion therefore evokes awe, fear and admiration.

         A gentile centurion takes center stage in today’s Gospel. There is something special about this centurion that is not usually associated with their military and battle-scarred reputation — his gentle attitude toward his servant. This servant would be a slave, but the centurion was grieved that his servant was ill and was determined to do everything in his power to save him. In the Roman Empire, slaves come a dime a dozen. They were easily replaceable. They did not matter. It was not so for this centurion. He cared sincerely for his servant. In other Gospel accounts of the same story, we even see the centurion kneeling before Jesus on behalf of his servant — such humility on the part of the centurion.

         It is the Advent season once more — the time when the Christian world is invited to reflect on the scandalizing humility of God being born for worthless “servants.” Before the Law, slaves during Jesus’ time did not have any legal personality. They did not have rights. Their existence was justified only by the master who adopts them. By pleading before Jesus for a “non-person,” the centurion showed that he saw in his slave more than a domestic assistant. He saw his slave as a brother.

         We should be practically nonexistent before God because of our sins. By our iniquity we have no claim. But Jesus took on our lowly nature and dressed us with the robe of dignity — the dignity of being God’s children. That is what we contemplate in the season of Advent.

         Today’s Responsorial Psalm reads: “I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’” The birth of Jesus opened the path to God’s house and has thrown open the gates of the Kingdom. Don’t trivialize the Advent season by following only the roads that lead to the malls! Fr. Joel Jason

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: “I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’”

 

Pray this psalm in your moments of silence and instill that noble Advent hope.