For I too am a person subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
The centurion was somehow able to recognize the authority of Christ. He already found favor with the people by building a synagogue for them. The fact that they spoke out in his support is good evidence of his character. His heart was in some sense already open. Otherwise it could be harder for one with earthly authority over soldiers to recognize the authority of Christ. His was not merely an authority that others followed out of fear of punishment. The authority of Jesus was over all of creation including sickness and death. The centurion must have heard or seen Jesus speaking with this authority or healing and driving out demons with it. His open heart was not threatened by the alternative and more complete authority of Jesus. He did not need to scoff. Instead, he opened his heart in hope.
"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 word and let my servant be healed.
The centurion recognized authority in Christ. This prevented him from putting imagined limits on him the way he otherwise might. One could easily imagine that Jesus would have to come to one's home to perform a healing. But the centurion knew that the word alone would be enough and that reality itself would conform and obey.
There are a few lessons for us. The centurion shows us that it is in humility and generosity that we are able to fully recognize Jesus and therefore to give him full freedom to work in our lives. He shows us as well that we should not impose any limits on what Jesus can do. No matter how distant our LORD seems, how many times we've asked for something before, or how unlikely we imagine his answer to be, the LORD, by his authority can completely transform any situation in an instant through the power of his word.
We need this complete belief in the authority of the word of Christ to truly receive all the grace Jesus wants to give us in the Eucharist.
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,
that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,
took bread and, after he had given thanks,
broke it and said, "This is my Body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me."
The most basic reason we believe this is because we believe that the word of Jesus has the power to do what it says. We believe it even when we cannot see results, even when we ourselves cannot understand the reason why it should be this way. We do not necessarily understand it. But we recognize the one who has the words of everlasting life (see John 6:68). According to the hymn of Saint Thomas Aquinas:
Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived:
How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed;
What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do;
Truth Himself speaks truly or there's nothing true.
- Adoro te devote by Saint Thomas Aquinas
We can't be like those with divisions in the early Church who basically come to do there own thing. These divisions sometimes exist even just inside of our own spirits as diverse priorities contend for our attention. Even these are still a problem. Like the centurion we should be as open and focused as we can manage. Even this disposition that we bring is a gift of grace. But we must choose to bring it. When we do we recognize the authority of Jesus over the elements of the bread and wine and over the elements of our own lives. We receive fully the grace of transformation. We taste glory.
May all who seek you
exult and be glad in you
And may those who love your salvation
say ever, "The LORD be glorified."
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