Commentary on the Gospel of

Joan Kowalski-Creighton University's Division of Student Life

My reflection for today is focused on our Gospel, Matthew 8:5-17. The story is centered on a centurion, a man of great faith, who believed that the Lord would cure his servant who was home paralyzed and suffering dreadfully. Jesus assured the centurion that he would come to his home and cure his servant. But, the centurion responded to Jesus with these words “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.” Jesus, in response to these words of uninhibited faith was amazed and said to the centurion, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith…You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” And at that very hour his servant was healed. WOW! Really, WOW!!!! How can one read this piece of scripture and not be in awe of the greatness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ???? While we may not have walked the actual road with Jesus in His time, he is by our side every single day in every single way.

I want to share a story with you about my faith, about how I have discovered through many trials, temptations and failures to not lose sight of my faith. If only I were the centurion, who stood so strong in his faith in the presence of Jesus. What an experience for this man, to be in Jesus’ presence and witness His greatness without any doubt. 

Our Lord tells us through many scriptures to welcome challenging times as opportunities to trust Him. He is always beside us and His Spirit resides within our very souls. The path has been dotted with many trials since I last shared my reflection. However, through all of YOUR love in sharing your stories with me, I have been prayed for and have felt God’s strength. However, my strength is not that of our God’s, nor is it strong enough to endure life as I experience it each and every day.

This morning, I woke up to complete my usual daily tasks. As the caregiver of one who suffers with severe mental illness, you never know what you will see on any given morning. There are surprises, challenges and obstacles that present themselves in the way of a kitchen totally being disheveled with remains of the night’s escapades. I stand at the entrance to my kitchen and take a very deep breath and cuss under my breath of the mess that is before me. My heart begins to fill with anxiety, then anger, and finally sadness. I open the refrigerator door, and out falls the food that has been stuffed onto the shelves in a total state of disarray, an open can of uneaten sauerkraut falls to my feet and scatters all over the floor. Again, I cuss under my breath move away from the mess, begin to clean up the floor and start to cry hysterically. Why? Every single day, Lord, why must this be my journey? Some of you may be asking yourself, why is she crying over the spilled sauerkraut…right? It’s the representation of how things can become so out of control in our minds, if we don’t allow God to be in control of the spilled sauerkraut and allow Him to wrap His loving arms around us, as we get down on bended knees to clean up a mess. It’s the faith to know that God will not abandon me in my life, I simply need to let go of the control, and let him be the pilot, accepting each opportunity that comes my way.

My journey is to be the Light of God every single day with all who He places into my presence. It’s so difficult when these opportunities (which may sometimes appear to be challenges) come into my path, like spilled sauerkraut. God’s word tells us to walk through those demanding days by gripping His hand tightly and remaining in close communication with Him! Let your thoughts and spoken words be richly flavored with trust and thankfulness, no matter what the circumstances are. God truly tells us in Isaiah 26:3 – “YOU (God) keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on YOU, because he trusts in YOU.”

I must thank all of you for the outpouring of love from everyone who shared your response to my last reflection. God is good, and those who believe know that we can do all things through Christ…keep up the good faith and God bless all of you!

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