December 2nd, 2024
The Confession of the Centurion by James Tissot (c. 1886-1894)
Today’s Gospel reading concerns the centurion who asks Jesus to heal his servant, famously uttering the phrase we echo at Mass: “Lord, I am not worthy for you to enter under my roof.” (Reading this phrase gives me the same gleeful, satisfied feeling I get when a movie character says the title of the movie. “A-ha! So THAT’S where the title came from…”)
A centurion in Roman times was a well-paid army commander, a distinguished and exemplary leader. He held a lot of responsibility and had a public image to maintain. In other words, he was a big deal.
By contrast, at that time, Jesus was not a big deal. To the public, Jesus was just a Jewish carpenter, and while word had gotten around that he was a great healer, he wasn’t yet Jesus Christ Superstar.
Furthermore, the centurion would have been a Gentile, a non-Jew. How did he hear about Jesus and his miracles? Given the revulsion that Romans had for the Jewish people, what gave him the idea to approach a small-time Jewish healer for help?
While the Bible doesn’t tell us, I believe the centurion asked around, desperate to end the suffering of his servant. Maybe his wife or a soldier under his command had heard of Jesus. Rather than dismiss their advice, he listened to his “subordinates” and took their earnest suggestions seriously. In doing so, he saved his servant’s life.
Imagine how this story could have played out.
The centurion might have considered the servant replaceable, not worth healing – not his problem.
He could have cared about the servant but dismissed Jesus as a fraud.
He might have sought out Jesus in an arrogant, entitled way, demanding that Jesus make his problem a priority, given the centurion’s standing in society.
The primary miracle of the story is Jesus’ healing. But a secondary miracle occurred when one very important man humbled himself and begged Jesus, our Lord, for help with his lowly servant.
The centurion declared himself unworthy of help but believed that Jesus could heal with one word. The centurion knew he was considered an important man, but he was not too proud or too important to humble himself to save the life of another.
No matter how successful we get, no matter how many people buy our books or albums, no matter how much responsibility we have at work or how much money we have in the bank, none of us are worthy of Jesus on our own merits. It is not by our own authority and power and importance that Jesus saves us. It is by the mercy of God.
May we ask for and receive God’s mercy with the humility of the centurion. Amen!
Laura Pittenger is a NYC-based novelist, playwright and director, specializing in dark comedies which challenge the body, heart and soul. She is the treasurer of the Catholic Artist Connection.