Eucharist in the Time of Corona

Jesus in the "sermon on the plain" (Lk 6: 20-49) emphasized mercy and love in the Kingdom of God, even proposing to his followers the love of enemies (27-36). Jesus not only preaches but puts mercy into practice. In today’s Gospel the Catholic Church proposes for our reflection one such action when he heals a slave owned by a Roman Centurion.

The message indicates that God's merciful love reaches not only the members of the chosen people but all human beings. But Luke orders his account progressively and the full revelation of this truth will be found in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 10. For now, the text has as its background the healing of Naaman the Syrian performed by Elisha (2 Kings 5: 1- 14). In both the Gospel and the Book of Kings there was no physical contact between the participants. Everything was done from a distance. Neither Elisha saw Naaman nor did Jesus have contact with the slave or the Centurion.

Jesus in the Gospel praises the absolute confidence that the centurion manifests that the word of Jesus will be fulfilled. This invites us to review how much our trust is in the word of Jesus. But we must bear in mind that although the Centurion fully trusts in Jesus, this confidence does not lead him to passivism, letting Jesus do everything absolutely while he crosses his arms. No, the Centurion acts always. His confidence does not prevent him but prompts him to act. In these times of pandemic, the Gospel invites us to trust Jesus without ceasing to do our part to address the challenges presented to us individually or as a community.