![\"confused\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/149\/2017\/06\/confused-239x300.jpg\")
When I was a child I was taught the Sunday School song, \u201cTrust and Obey for there\u2019s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to Trust and Obey.\u201d<\/p>\nWhen I was a child I was taught the Sunday School song, \u201cTrust and Obey for there\u2019s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to Trust and Obey.\u201d<\/p>\n
So some time ago this song comes back to me when I read the gospel of the healing of the centurion\u2019s servant.<\/p>\n
A new understanding of this story and of faith hit me square between the eyes. Here\u2019s a clip from the gospel:<\/p>\n
\u201cLord, do not trouble yourself,<\/p>\n
for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof.<\/p>\n
Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you;<\/p>\n
but say the word and let my servant be healed.<\/p>\n
For I too am a person subject to authority,<\/p>\n
with soldiers subject to me.<\/p>\n
And I say to one, \u2018Go,\u2019 and he goes;<\/p>\n
and to another, \u2018Come here,\u2019 and he comes;<\/p>\n
and to my slave, \u2018Do this,\u2019 and he does it.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him<\/p>\n
and, turning, said to the crowd following him,<\/p>\n
\u201cI tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the messengers returned to the house,<\/p>\n
they found the slave in good health.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Most often we hear this gospel and hear that the centurion had faith and that as a consequence his servant was healed.<\/p>\n
We think that \u2018having faith\u2019 means trying very, very hard to believe something. We think \u2018having faith\u2019 means squeezing our eyes shut and thinking good thoughts very, very hard so that good things happen.<\/p>\n
Or we think \u2018having faith\u2019 means trying very, very hard to believe something which we think is probably not true, and if we believe enough then it really will be true after all. It\u2019s all a bit like \u201cif you believe in fairies clap your hands and Tinkerbell will live\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Then I saw this story again. Here is a centurion. He\u2019s a tough soldier with a tender heart. He lives in a particular way. He takes orders from above. He does what he\u2019s told. There is a certain amount of trust in his superior, and even if he doesn\u2019t trust his superior, he trusts in the virtue of obedience and order. It is the same with his slaves and soldiers beneath him. He says \u201ccome here\u201d and he comes and \u201cDo this\u201d and he does it. The centurion lives a certain kind of life. It is a life of trust and obedience. He trusts. He obeys. This is the life he leads.<\/p>\n
So then I saw that this was also what Our Lord meant by \u2018faith\u2019. It was not just trying hard to believe something which we really rather deep down know is all poppycock. Instead it is living a life of trust and obedience. It is knowing enough about God to trust him and then obey. It is knowing enough about Christ to trust him and obey. It is knowing enough about the Church and her teachings to trust and obey.<\/p>\n
This is what faith is: it is being faithful. It is living a certain kind of life\u2013a life of wave walking\u2013a life of trusting obedience.<\/p>\n
The centurion did not try very hard to believe something he thought was probably not true. He didn\u2019t squeeze his eyes shut and try to have some sort of religious experience which made him feel all gooey and good. He didn\u2019t summon up a belief by working hard at it. He didn\u2019t ascribe to a set of dogmas and call that faith. He lived a simple life of trusting obedience, and when he encountered Christ he entered into that same simple trusting obedience with him.<\/p>\n
This quality of character produced another quality: humility. The centurion\u2014because he was a man of trusting obedience\u2013was also humble. He was able to say in all sincerity and simplicity, \u201cI am not worthy that you should come under my roof.\u201d<\/p>\n
This, then is faith: to know enough about God to put our humble trust in him, and then to obey him day by day and moment by moment. Do this and (as we say in the Holy Mass)\u2026your soul will be healed.<\/p>\n
Image Creative Commons<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I was a child I was taught the Sunday School song, \u201cTrust and Obey for there\u2019s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to Trust and Obey.\u201d So some time ago this song comes back to me when I read the gospel of the healing of the centurion\u2019s servant. A new understanding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":22707,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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