A centurion was an officer in the Roman army who typically commanded a group of around 80 legionaires. That would make his command a bit bigger than a modern platoon and a bit smaller than a company at full strength. It was a demanding job with a myriad of responsibilities, both military and otherwise. Centurions appear all over the New Testament, and most of the time are presented in an unflattering light. They are almost always arresting someone, torturing them, or - in Jesus's case - killing them. Needless to say, they were perceived as being not very holy.
Jesus, however, believed that redemption was the most important trait of the loving God that is His Father - and this is particularly true of his attitude toward centurions. In the Gospel reading from St. Luke on September 17th, Jesus has pity on a centurion whose slave is dying. We all know the connection we have for those who have served with us, and the centurion was no different. But when Jesus approaches the centurion's home to heal his slave, the centurion deems himself unworthy of Jesus's presence in his home:
"And Jesus went with them, but when he was only a short distance from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him: 'Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the work and let my servant be healed.'" (LK 7:6-7)
If that passage sound familiar it's because a portion of it is said at Mass each week during the response right before Holy Communion. What you probably didn't know was that it was uttered by a member of the Roman military, a soldier, who thought his faith in Christ would be ignored because of his profession. But Christ healed the man's companion exactly because of his faith, and this point can't be ignored by all of us who served.
If Christ can forgive a military man whose assignments likely included persecuting and punishing Christ's followers, he can certainly forgive you for any of your transgressions. He wants us to be redeemed and to achieve a state of grace. Such is the power of redemption.
As if to put an even finer point on the redemptive power of Christ for military members and veterans we need only to look at Christ's Passion. Roman soldiers beat and scourged Jesus, crowned him with thorns, and made him carry the Cross to his death. There, at the place of his crucifixion, they cast lots for his clothes, hammered nails in his hands and feet, and then stabbed him in the side to make sure he was dead.
What did Jesus say about all this maltreatment at the hands of the Roman soldiers?
"Lord, forgive them, they know not what they do." (LK 23:24)
If he can do that for them, he can certainly do it for you, too.
"And Jesus went with them, but when he was only a short distance from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him: 'Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the work and let my servant be healed.'" (LK 7:6-7)
If that passage sound familiar it's because a portion of it is said at Mass each week during the response right before Holy Communion. What you probably didn't know was that it was uttered by a member of the Roman military, a soldier, who thought his faith in Christ would be ignored because of his profession. But Christ healed the man's companion exactly because of his faith, and this point can't be ignored by all of us who served.
If Christ can forgive a military man whose assignments likely included persecuting and punishing Christ's followers, he can certainly forgive you for any of your transgressions. He wants us to be redeemed and to achieve a state of grace. Such is the power of redemption.
As if to put an even finer point on the redemptive power of Christ for military members and veterans we need only to look at Christ's Passion. Roman soldiers beat and scourged Jesus, crowned him with thorns, and made him carry the Cross to his death. There, at the place of his crucifixion, they cast lots for his clothes, hammered nails in his hands and feet, and then stabbed him in the side to make sure he was dead.
What did Jesus say about all this maltreatment at the hands of the Roman soldiers?
"Lord, forgive them, they know not what they do." (LK 23:24)
If he can do that for them, he can certainly do it for you, too.
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