Capernaum’s centurion: a man of faith and hope

Homily for Monday of the first week of Advent (2019).

The figure we encounter today in the Gospel, the centurion of Capernaum, helps us to prepare. We use his adapted words to prepare for communion: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” And today, at the beginning of Advent, the season when we prepare for the coming of the Lord, the centurion appears in the readings.

A season of preparation is a season of faith and hope—and I think the centurion of Capernaum appears today because he is a figure of faith and hope.

Both of these virtues exist in imperfect situations. We need hope because of something we lack in the present; we need faith because there is something doubtful about the situation in which we find ourselves.

The centurion comes to Jesus asking for help. And his words—“I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof”—are poignant because in them we hear the unvarnished truth. We can easily imagine that the centurion, an officer in the imperial army, has seen terrible things and perhaps–even if only out of duty–has had to do terrible things as well. His sense of unworthiness, however, does not prevent him from turning to the Lord.

We recognize ourselves in the centurion. We too are needy in so many ways. We are imperfect; our lives are short and fragile; we are often filled with doubts. We need a Savior.

Faith–which Jesus sees in the centurion and praises–is believing that, despite the sufferings of the present, we have a Savior. And he will come. The centurion believes. He believes that there is a Savior.

To faith, hope adds action. Hope means that we also have the courage to act according to our faith. The centurion has the courage to plead with Jesus with absolute sincerity. And we would do well in this season of Advent to pray with such sincerity, expressing our need and asking for the coming of the Savior with faith and hope.

Readings: Isaiah 4:2-6; Matthew 8:5-11.

(Original: Italian)

Church of the Gesù, Rome

2019