Carmelite homily for Monday, December 2, 2019 – Lectionary 175
In today’s Gospel we have Jesus praising the Centurion. The Centurion came to Jesus asking that his servant be healed saying, ‘just say the word and it will be done because I, a centurion, when I say something, it’s done.’ And Jesus says, ‘I have never seen such faith in all of Israel.’ But I think there’s more than faith here. Because this man loves his servant or he wouldn’t be there. And he hopes that Jesus will give him what he asks for. It’s faith, hope, and love, we see in today’s Gospel. These are the words of Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection. We don’t hear from him too often and yet he has a lot of profound things to say. Brother Lawrence writes, “All things are possible to him who believes; they are less difficult to him who hopes, they are easier to him who loves, and most easy to him who practices and perseveres in these three virtues.” I think that’s what we see operating and being lived in today’s Gospel.