HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE TWELFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II. 27.06.2020.
ONLY SAY YOUR WORD AND MY SOUL SHALL
BE HEALED
When life is
heavy and hard on us, we lament badly. We lament when things do not go down
well with us. If I may ask, must we lament in such situations? Even if we have
to die, must we die lamenting? Is there anyone being hindered from smiling,
cheerfulness and contentment in the midst of adversity? We can moderately
lament on our past sorrows and for sorrows to come, we can wisely seek to
prevent them. Yesterday we heard the laments of the Israelite on the rivers of
Babylon in Psalm 137 and today’s liturgy calls us to reflect on the book of
Lamentations and the laments of the centurion towards Christ.
The book of
Lamentation is a collection of five poems mourning the conquest of Jerusalem
and the Kingdom of Judah. The book has traditionally been ascribed to Jeremiah
in reference to 2 Chronicles 25:25 to the prophet composing a lament to the
king Josiah, but there is no reference to Josiah in the book and no reason to
connect it to Jeremiah. The title of the book, Lamentations, aptly describes
its tone and content. The book is a series of laments that rise up from the
people of Israel as they try to come to terms with the destruction of the city
of Jerusalem and their land and the resulting experience of exile in Babylon.
More prayers of lamentations are also found in the Psalms, which may suggest
that we tend to approach God more in times of need than in times of plenty. The
first reading expresses a keen sense of grief at the destruction of the Davidic
dynasty. It says, “My eyes are spent with
weeping; my soul is in tumult…” He went further to say, “Cry aloud to the Lord! O daughter of Zion!
Let tears stream down like a torrent day and night! Pour out your heart like
water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of
your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street.” While the
prophet urges the daughter of Zion to cry aloud to the Lord, the Psalmist, in
the tone of lamentation said, “Do not
forget the life of your poor ones forever and he asked: Why, O God, have you
cast us off forever?” proceeding this was a lament, calling on God to help.
In the gospel, a
Roman centurion who was in need of help approached Christ; he was not a member
of the people of Israel, he was obviously a gentile, a pagan. He comes before Christ
with a cry of lament, “my servant is
lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress.” He does not make an
explicit request of Christ, but his lament before Him has an implicit request,
“help my servant; help me.” Every
lament is, at its core, a cry for help. This particular pagan displayed
extraordinary sensitivity to Christ as well as tremendous faith in him. Even
when Christ said, “I will come and heal him,” he presumed Christ a Jew will
hesitate to enter the house of a sinner and he believed that Christ could heal
his servant at a distance with his word. He showed a great faith in Christ’s
word. He understood that Christ could heal with his word just as easy as with a
touch, as He did to Peter’s mother-in-law, with a gentle touch the fever left
her. The centurion’s words presuppose an understanding of the Roman military
system… A foot soldier who disobeyed would not be defying a mere centurion but
the emperor, Rome itself, with all its imperial majesty and might. A version of
this centurion prayer of petition, “Lord,
I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my
servant shall be healed” has become part of the text of the Holy Mass.
Dear friends in
Christ, unknowing to me that I will encounter this Gospel today, just yesterday
someone expressed similar faith of the centurion after reading my homily, she
said, “Father please say a word to my
soul for I belief that distance is not a barrier.” I gave her my blessings
from distance, and I pray that all who believe in the power of the word of God
may have a great portion of this blessing, and may your lament today turn into
joy through Christ our Lord. Amen! Peace be with you!
Fr. Ken Dogbo,
OSJ
Thanks so much fr, for dishing out these reflections to us...God bless you and inspire you more...
ReplyDeleteThanks Fr.
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