Bible Study Reflection #27: The Power of God

Note: Once again, you will need to do a little reading in your Bible today, so I ask that you have it handy while you read this reflection. 

Today I’d like to focus on one of the more unusual events described in the Gospels: Jesus’ trip across the Sea of Galilee to visit the region of the Gadarenes on the eastern shore of the sea.

This visit by Jesus to the Gadarenes, unique in His public ministry, is a remarkable incident in so many ways. It’s always good, though, to read a passage like this, indeed every passage, in context. In other words, read that which comes before and that which follows. This will help us come to terms with what took place and its effect on those involved.

First, then, I ask you to open your Bible and turn to Chapter 8 of the Gospel According to Matthew. Take some time, all the time you need, to read all of Chapter 8, which concludes with Jesus' visit to Gadara, but also includes brief descriptions of the events preceding it.

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Note: Gadara was the region’s main city, located about five miles southeast of the sea. But Mark and Luke use the term Gerasene which might refer to the city of Gerasa (or Gergesa) located on the eastern shore. Many believe most of the eastern shore was simply called the region of the Gadarenes. See the map.

Why did Jesus make this visit? Well, as we will see, there were good reasons then. But Jesus acts for more than the present; He acts for all times, so there are reasons that apply to us today as well.

Let’s turn our attention first to the disciples. By now they had been with Jesus for a while and had grown accustomed to huge crowds of people coming to Jesus for healing and instruction and forgiveness. They had encountered so many people begging for His help, for His mercy, that it had probably become almost routine for them. That previous evening, Matthew tells us:

"...they brought Him many who were possessed by demons, and He drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick" [Mt 8:16]

Just imagine the effect of all this, not only on the disciples, but also on all those who had witnessed Jesus performing these many exorcisms and cures. Day after day, all who came to Jesus, hundreds of people, were healed. In other words, if you came to Jesus, or were taken to Him by another, this manifestation of even a small kernel of faith was enough to bring healing, a healing that led each person to the salvation God wants for him.

And then, to add to their amazement, earlier that same day a Roman centurion -- a Gentile! -- had approached Jesus, and in total humility, explained his need:

"Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully" [Mt 8:6].

And Jesus didn’t hesitate to answer the plea of this Roman soldier:

"I will come and cure him" [Mt 8:7].

What a shock that must have been to the Jews, including the disciples. For Jesus had just agreed to go to the house of a Gentile, something no Jew would ever do – and not just any Gentile, but a centurion, an officer of the despised occupying Roman Army.

Yes, indeed, Jesus was more than unpredictable; he took the old rules and tossed them aside, demonstrating to the disciples the new path they would eventually be called to follow as they worked to fulfill Jesus command to “make disciples of all nations.”

From the Gospels it’s apparent that Jesus spent the vast majority of His public ministry among the Jews, and only seldom interacted with Gentiles. This encounter with the Roman centurion was one of those rare occasions. But one senses it wasn’t particularly traumatic for the disciples. The centurion came in humility and asked Jesus for help. But in a display of deep faith, he also accepted that Jesus could work miracles at will, with no restrictions.

"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed" [Mt 8:8].

Yes, the centurion was a “righteous Gentile” whom Jesus praised to His disciples, so they wouldn’t miss the lesson:

"I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith" [Mt 8:10].

…and that includes you, apostles.

Then, presumably the next day, Jesus boarded a boat with his disciples and there, on the Sea of Galilee, "he gave orders to cross to the other side" [Mt 8:18]. During the crossing a violent storm arose and the disciples, too, plead for Jesus’ help:

“Lord, save us, we are perishing” [Mt 8:25].

Now, afraid for their lives, the apostles begged for help. But unlike the many who came to Jesus for healing, their faith was weak. One would think that having witnessed the divine power Jesus exercised every day, their faith would tell them to set aside fear. But no, they fear nature more than they trust God.

Our Lord calms the storm and chastises the disciples for the weakness of their faith, so unlike that of the Gentile centurion. They continue on, cross the Sea of Galilee, and enter the province of Gadara, a place populated largely by pagans. But Gadara isn’t just pagan territory. It is depicted as a district especially under the sway of the Evil One: God’s name is not invoked there, His law is not obeyed, and so we shouldn’t be surprised to find demoniacs dwelling there in their natural habitat.

These are not righteous Gentiles coming out of the tombs. No, they are instead men possessed by demons who have driven them into savagery. Just imagine the effect these demoniacs had on the disciples. Indeed, we can only imagine because in their bewilderment the disciples who have accompanied Jesus say absolutely nothing during this visit to Gadara. It’s as if they’re not even present; and yet, we know they are. They are silent, fearful witnesses to this strange encounter.

The disciples had heard many cries for help from those who came to Jesus. But they’d never heard anything quite like this:

What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time? [Mt 8:29]

Two remarkable questions from these demons. How darkly urgent was their need to separate themselves from Jesus. And how did they do it? By denouncing him as the Son of God! And in spitting out their hatred, their poison, they proclaimed the truth, at least some of it. The tiny remnant of goodness in their nature was exclusively intellectual. They recognized Jesus, and knew He possessed divine power. But their souls were so totally disfigured that no moral order remained. This acknowledgment, then, of Jesus’ identity escaped from them just as everything else did, with destructive violence: What have you to do with us?

Yes, indeed, what can the spirit of evil have in common with the Son of God? In a sense, this question -- What have we in common? – is not unlike what the centurion said to Jesus when he uttered,

“Lord I am not worthy…” [Mt 8:8]

Inspired by the Holy Spirit – for the Spirit certainly brought him to Jesus – the centurion recognized the great gulf that separated the reality of who he was and Who Jesus is. He was, indeed, unworthy. But for the demons it’s not a matter of unworthiness; it’s rather a question filled with hollow pride. It’s as if they challenge Jesus: “How dare you come to us. Don’t you, Son of God, have better things to do? Leave us alone.”

Other differences become evident. The centurion saw his servant’s illness, the paralysis, as an evil from which he should seek divine help. But for the demons, the evil of possession was at the very heart of their existence, and they, therefore, hated Jesus and the healing He brought.

The centurion also understood that, for Jesus, time and space are not obstacles. Jesus acts in fulfillment of the Father’s will, whenever and wherever that may be. The demons realize time is not one their side, that their “time” to plague humanity is only temporary. In their hatred, they scream at Jesus, reproaching him for coming before the kairos, before the appointed season of definitive judgment and the expulsion of the forces of evil:

“Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?” [Mt 8:29]

How odd. While they clearly know who Jesus is, and hate him for it, they are truly misinformed about the extent of their authority. No “appointed time” limits the work of God in the world. He desires the salvation of all and to save is what He does. He acts in a constant “now” and is certainly not constrained by the false desires of either demons or any of His creatures.

Demons are also great liars. After all, their boss is Satan, “a murderer…a liar and the father of lies” [Jn 8:44]. But demons are unable to lie to God. In the presence of Jesus, the Son of God, they must reveal all, even their ignorance. Yes, the demons, along with so many people in our world today, are woefully ignorant of the authority of God. Like the demons of Gadara, too many have embraced evil and worked to establish a culture of death, filled with places of anti-life from which they think they have evicted God, places where they believe the Truth cannot be proclaimed.

But God will have none of it. Jesus didn’t just happen to stop by Gadara on His way to somewhere else. As Moses led God’s people across the sea to claim a Promised Land inhabited by pagans, Jesus made this trip across the sea to do the same. He left the Galilee of the Jews, His people, and went intentionally to pagan Gadara to claim this land for His Father, just as He will send His disciples to “go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations” [Mt 28:19]. Jesus’ redeeming work knows no boundaries. The Word of God must spread throughout the earth, and no place is exempt.

The demons, of course, couldn’t accept this. Confused, they couldn’t understand why or how Jesus entered this place where evil believed itself safe from God’s Word. They had thrived there among the tombs of the dead, with the rotting flesh and bones and the unclean animals, and they resented this invasion of what they believe to be their sanctuary of evil.

In the Presence of Jesus, they resign themselves to being cast out, and accept that Jesus will free the men they have possessed. Interestingly, they ask to be sent into a herd of pigs, and Jesus grants their request. But “the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea where they drowned” [Mt 8:32].

Once again, we encounter that which separates Jesus from the powers of evil that roam throughout the world. Jesus offers humanity healing and life – “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” [Jn 10:10]. – but there remains only one other choice: death.

A humiliated Satan, who was once Lucifer, the angel of light, is cast into a doomed herd of pigs by the mere Presence of the Son of God, who has embraced the nature and material body of these lowly humans. We see, then, that Satan is powerless in the Presence of Jesus. He can do nothing. When we accept Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives, when we receive Him worthily in the Eucharist, when we accept His gifts of grace and forgiveness, He will “deliver us from evil.”

Our God, a Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Creator of all, is omnipotent, but His power is always exercised for good. It is a power manifested in mercy, and forgiveness, and love beyond our imagining.

But when people and nations turn away from God, when a people decides that the presence of God is an embarrassment, that the name of God is an insult to their intelligence and freedom, they then create a vacuum that Satan is only too happy to fill. And we can be certain the forces of evil would love to turn us into a latter-day Gadara.

For most of its history, despite their sinfulness, the people of our nation openly and willingly turned to God for help and guidance. Much of our history is that of a people struggling to overcome their faults, and yet filled with hope for a better, more virtuous future. “In God we trust” is still embossed on our currency. And as we salute our flag, we still pledge ourselves as “one nation, under God.” I would hope that most Americans still embrace a culture of life and believe that our loving God is the Lord of History who continues to act in our sinful world, just as He did when He walked on the earth in Galilee, Judah, and, yes, even in Gadara.

Let us pray, especially today, that as a people, as a nation of free men and women, we will turn always to Jesus Christ as our sole guide, as our Lord and Savior.

 

Homily: Saturday, 12 Week in Ordinary Time

Readings: Lam 2:2,10-14,18-19; Ps 74; Mt 8:5-17
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Back in my Navy days, I was a commanding officer on several occasions.

It carried quite a bit of authority, but I tried to ensure my decisions were formed by solid information, so I always included key subordinates in the decision-making process. There was a lot of give and take and open argument, but then, once I made my decision, I expected everyone to support it and do what was necessary to implement it. And remarkably they did...largely because of the authority the Navy gives its commanding officers. Of course no decision pleases everyone, so there was probably occasional grumbling, but never in my presence.

I also knew that "the buck stopped here," that command in the Navy meant that the responsibility always rested on the commanding officer's shoulders. Believe me, this is a humbling realization.

Our Gospel reading from Matthew shows that things haven't changed much in 2,000 years. Indeed, I've always felt a strong connection with that Roman centurion Jesus encountered in today's Gospel passage.

The Humility of the Centurion

Here was a man, despised by the Jews: not just a Gentile, but also a hated officer of the Roman army, an armed occupier of their Holy Land. Like the exiled Jews in our first reading who lamented their captivity and the destruction of Jerusalem, the Jews of Jesus' time lamented too. And for Jesus even to speak with the Centurion must have shocked them.

And yet in these few verses we encounter a man of tender concern, clear thinking, and moving faith.

He was a remarkable man, one who had been blessed; blessed because God had given him the wisdom to understand the limitations of his work in the world and its connection to his faith.

He understood the nature and difference between human authority and divine authority. Although he had physical control over those he led, he knew that he too was subject to a higher authority. And because he had accepted God's gift of faith he had come to recognize that higher authority present in the person of Jesus.

This is a remarkable display of true humility of the kind we all should possess. True humility, the "poor in sprit" kind of humility, is nothing less than a deep, soul-ingrained awareness that God is great and we are all His creatures. It puts all of life into perspective, forcing us to focus on what is truly important.

Those who, like the centurion, understand the truth of their existence don't revel in their humility; for to them it's no personal virtue; it's simply reality. My father used to say: "Humility's a strange commodity because once you know you have it, you've just lost it." Our centurion's humility was just an acceptance of truth.

Confronted by the real presence of Jesus, his Lord, the centurion asks for healing, not for himself but for one for whom he is responsible. He knows his limitations. He cannot heal another of his paralysis and his suffering. That is something only God can do. Filled with faith, he appeals to the divine authority standing before him. Jesus accepts his appeal and agrees to accompany him.

It's then the centurion utters those words made holy by the Church, words we all pray when we are confronted by the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. 

"Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof; but only say the word and my servant will be healed" [Mt 8:8].

What remarkable words - words of both deep faith and simple kindness.

Deep faith because he knows that God's power, God's authority over His creation, is limitless and certainly doesn't demand Jesus' physical, human presence. The word of the Word of God, the word that created the entire universe, is sufficient: "...only say the word..."

And simple kindness so Jesus, a Jew, wouldn't have to deal with the consequences of entering the home, of being "under the roof" of a Gentile.

The centurion brings these words of our liturgy to life and you and I should pray them with the same sense of humility and faith. Yes, indeed, we too are "not worthy" of the Eucharistic Presence of Jesus, a miraculous Presence, a Presence He shares with us despite our unworthiness. And yet in that Presence He opens His heart to us, asking us as we come forward to receive Him to lay our needs at His feet.

How blessed we will be when Jesus responds to us as He responded to the centurion:

"You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you" [Mt 8:13].

Homily: Monday, 1st Week of Advent

Readings Is 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Mt 8:5-11

I'm often amazed...people, things, situations, encounters - a lot of these amaze me.

A few weeks ago, during my stint as hospital chaplain, I visited a patient who told me he was dying and wanted to go to hospice. I expressed my sorrow at his situation, but he just smiled and said, "Oh, no, this is a good thing. I'm 83. God gave me a good life, and it's time to go home." I'll admit I was amazed. It's not often you encounter someone who faces death with such deep faith.

I'm amazed when I look up at the night sky and try to contemplate the unimaginable vastness of the universe and the complexity of God's creation. And then I look at myself and realize that I, along with every other person God created, represent the very pinnacle of creation: created in God's own image and likeness, and created out of love. That too is amazing.

I'm amazed when I encounter someone who professes to be a Christian, but lives as if God doesn't exist.

Yes, I am easily and frequently amazed.

But it must have taken a lot to amaze Jesus. Indeed, in the Gospels, only twice is Jesus described as amazed.

Once, while Jesus was visiting His hometown of Nazareth, Mark tells us: "He was amazed at their lack of faith" [Mk 6:6]

The second instance is in today's passage from Matthew when Jesus encountered exactly the opposite: the Roman centurion's remarkable faith.

It was especially remarkable because the centurion was a Gentile, not a Jew. And not just any Gentile: He was an officer in the occupying army of Rome. Most Jews would have despised him.

Although Jesus had numerous encounters with Gentiles, He instructed the disciples to avoid them. As Jews, still being formed as disciples, they were not yet ready to take the Good News to the world. It's only later, after Jesus' death and resurrection, when, in anticipation of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, He commanded them:

"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations..." [Mt 28:19]

But throughout His public ministry, in anticipation of this great commission, Jesus began to show them what discipleship is all about. All their biases and hatreds - whether religious, ethnic, cultural, political, personal - they all had to go. You can't make disciples of those you despise.

In today's passage, Jesus shocks His disciples. When speaking of the centurion, He says:

"...in no one in Israel have I found such faith" [Mt 8:10].

Yes, Jesus tells the crowd, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are with God, not because they were Jews, but because they were men of faith, just like this centurion standing here before Me.

What Jesus sees, what amazes Him, is the centurion's tender concern for his servant, his humility in the face of spiritual power, and his faith, the kind that can move mountains. He is a man of discipline, a man familiar with the application of worldly power, but he also recognizes that such power has its limits. His trusted servant is dying; neither he, nor Caesar, nor any other human can do a thing about it.

So he comes to Jesus. But he comes not to a mere man, but to One he calls "Kyrie" - Lord.  Yes, in his humility this man of earthly power recognizes the divine power of his Lord.
Jesus need not humble Himself by visiting the house of a Gentile. He need only say the word. Indeed, the centurion knows that the house of man cannot contain God - only the Word can contain God.

This understanding causes the centurion to look upon the very Word of God and say those words we repeat as we adore the Eucharistic Presence at every Mass:

"Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed" [Mt 8:8].

He left his home searching for the Word, for the Divine Presence, searching for the God Who was actually in search of him, calling him.

The centurion was a man of compassion and common sense, but it was his deep faith that amazed the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, this is what Jesus seeks. His gaze rests on each one of us, begging us to grasp the gift of faith He offers. He calls us to a deep fiery faith, the kind that burns away all the layers of worldly bias and hatred and materialism, that shatters all the obstacles with which we surround ourselves.

Let's begin Advent trusting that the Lord wants to respond to our need, knowing that the Word of God can heal and renew us, recreate and refashion us. Out of our spiritual poverty, but filled with confidence, let us pray "Come Lord Jesus" [Rev 22:19]

Homily: Monday, 24th Week of Ordinary Time (Most Holy Name of Mary)

Readings: 1 Cor 11:17-26, 33; Psalm 40; Luke 7:1-10
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“I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith” [Lk 7:9].

What a surprise it must have been to the Jews who heard Jesus say those words. For the centurion was not only a gentile, he was also an officer of the hated Roman legions that had occupied the Holy Land for 100 years.

Was he a pagan as well? Probably not, for we are told “he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us” [Lk 7:5].  And there were many gentiles, especially among the Romans, who were drawn to the monotheistic faith of the Jews. This centurion seems to be among their number.

And the fact that he had sent the Jewish elders to ask for Jesus’ help indicates he clearly understood the demands of any relationship between Jew and gentile. He knew that by approaching Jesus personally and publicly he might place him in an awkward position. He also knew that Jews were forbidden to enter the house of a gentile.

But one thing about him is certain: he was a man of faith, for Jesus tells us so. In fact, Jesus’ miraculous healing of the centurion’s servant is given unique treatment by Luke. The miracle itself is hardly mentioned. Instead Luke focuses on the centurion and his faith. And his is a remarkable faith.

It’s a faith of abandonment and perfect trust, a faith that lets go completely and turns everything over to God.

It’s a faith that places no limits on God, a faith that accepts God’s omnipotence.

It’s a faith that allows God to heal and forgive whenever and however He wants, that allows God to rewrite the laws of nature because they are His laws.

Yes, Jesus was “amazed” by the centurion’s faith, a faith greater than any in Israel.

Throughout the Old Testament, the history of God’s relationship with His people, we encounter men and women of great faith – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Moses and David; Ruth and Esther; Elijah and the prophets. But they all have their moments of doubt, their crises of faith, the times when they turn away from God and try to rely on their own devices.

But with the centurion, we see only constancy, a faith that mirrors the words of Divine Mercy: “Jesus I trust in You.

Indeed, the Church thinks so much of the faith of the centurion that his words are included in the liturgy. At the time during Mass when we celebrate the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist – the Presence Paul preached in today's first reading – we, the faithful, repeat the centurion's act of faith:

"Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed" [See Lk 7:6-7].

I can think of only one other person who exhibits this kind of faith, this total abandonment to the Will of God. Only Mary, Our Blessed Mother, can hear the words that describe the Incarnation, the miraculous event that will change the world forever, and accept it without question:

“May it be done to me according to your word” [Lk 1:38].

And how fitting that today we should celebrate the memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary, a name which in Hebrew, Miryãm, means lady or sovereign. And so she truly is “Our Lady.” 

The feast was created by Pope Innocent XI in remembrance of the defeat of the Islamic Turks by the Poles in 1683. The Turks has threatened Vienna and all of Western Europe, and the victory was attributed to Mary’s intercession.

A decade ago Pope Benedict, quoting St. Bernard, encouraged the faithful to:

“…call upon Mary…in danger, in distress, in doubt, think of Mary, call upon Mary. May her name never be far from your lips, or far from your heart…If you follow her, you will not stray; if you pray to her, you will not despair; if you turn your thoughts to her, you will not err. If she holds you, you will not fall; if she protects you, you need not fear; if she is your guide, you will not tire; if she is gracious to you, you will surely reach your destination” [Pope Benedict Homily, 9/9/2007].

Although far too often you and I lack the depth of faith displayed by the centurion, we need only turn to Mary. We can lay our doubts and weak faith at her feet, invoke her holy name, and know she will intercede for us.

As we pray Divine Praises in the Eucharistic Presence:

“Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.”