I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.

He is confident in the word of Jesus. He is confident that Jesus can heal. 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

 1corinthians 11:17-26, 33

 To continue with

My advice, I cannot praise you, for your gatherings are not for the better but for the worse.

First, as I have heard, when you gather together, there are divisions among you and I partly believe it. There may have to be dif­ferent groups among you, so that it becomes clear who among you are genuine.

Your gatherings are no longer the Supper of the Lord, for each one eats at once his own food and while one is hungry, the other is getting drunk. Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or perhaps you despise the Church of God and desire to humili­ate those who have nothing? What shall I say? Shall I praise you? For this I cannot praise you.

This is the tradition of the Lord that I received and that in my turn I have handed on to you; the Lord Jesus, on the night that he was delivered up, took bread and, after giving thanks, broke it, saying, “This is my body which is broken for you; do this in memory of me.” n the same manner, taking the cup after the supper, he said, “This cup is the new Covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do it in memory of me.” So, then, whenever you eat of this bread and drink from this cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord until he comes.

 So then, brothers, when you gather for a meal, wait for one another.

 

Ps 40:7-8, 8b-9, 10-17

Proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊       LUkd 7:1-10

 When Jesus had finished teaching in this way to the people, he went to Capernaum.

 There was a captain whose servant was very sick and near to death, a man very dear to him. So when he heard about Jesus, he sent some elders of the Jews to persuade him to come and save his servant’s life. The elders came to Jesus and begged him earnestly, saying, “He deserves this of you, for he loves our people and even built a synagogue for us.”

Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the captain sent friends to give this message, “Sir, do not trouble yourself for I am not worthy to welcome you under my roof. You see I didn’t approach you myself. Just give the order and my servant will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers and I say to this one: ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to the other: ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant: ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”  

On hearing these words, Jesus was filled with admiration. He turned and said to the people with him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” The people sent by the captain went back to his house; there they found that the servant was well.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Saintly Pagan

To have the kind of faith that fills God with admiration is no small feat!the faith and conduct of the unnamed Roman officer were so profound that his words have entered the Rite of Communion in the Holy Mass. He definitely deserved it, for he exhibited many evangelical virtues: a profound faith that honored God and confessed his own unworthiness; deep trust that Jesus would do the right thing for his servant; genuine concern for the welfare of his servant – being an officer,

He had far greater matters to busy himself with and no one would have faulted him if he hadn’t cared for his ailing servant; though a Roman official, he respected the religious traditions of the Jews and provided them with a synagogue….what greater proof Jesus needed for his love of God and neighbor! this saintly pagan must definitely serve as a model for us, Christians.