The Word of Healing

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to retrieve from our lamentation over our losses the call to be a word of hope to fellow travelers both grand and little.

Healing and Hope

The Reading from the Book of Lamentations presents The Lord’s Wrath and Zion’s Ruin.

* [2:11] My eyes are spent with tears, my stomach churns: the poet appropriates the emotional language used by Zion in 1:16 and 1:20 to express a progressively stronger commitment to her cause. After describing the systematic dismantling of the city in vv. 5–9, the poet turns to the plight of the inhabitants in vv. 10–12. It is the description of children dying in the streets that finally brings about the poet’s emotional breakdown, even as it did for Zion in 1:16.

* [2:13] To what can I compare you…?: the author calls attention to the poetic task: to find language that speaks adequately of the atrocities and incomparable suffering experienced by Zion, and thus to attempt to offer comfort. (Lamentations, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)

 Psalm 74 is a lament sung when the enemy invaded the Temple.

* [Psalm 74] A communal lament sung when the enemy invaded the Temple; it would be especially appropriate at the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. Israel’s God is urged to look upon the ruined sanctuary and remember the congregation who worshiped there (Ps 74:1–11). People and sanctuary are bound together; an attack on Zion is an attack on Israel. In the second half of the poem, the community brings before God the story of their origins—their creation (Ps 74:12–17)—in order to move God to reenact that deed of creation now. Will God allow a lesser power to destroy the divine project (Ps 74:18–23)? (Psalms, PSALM 74 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus presents Healing of a Centurion’s Servant and Cure of Peter’s Mother-in-Law.

* [8:5] A centurion: a military officer commanding a hundred men. He was probably in the service of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee; see note on Mt 14:1.

* [8:8–9] Acquainted by his position with the force of a command, the centurion expresses faith in the power of Jesus’ mere word.

* [8:10] In no one in Israel: there is good textual attestation (e.g., Codex Sinaiticus) for a reading identical with that of Lk 7:9, “not even in Israel.” But that seems to be due to a harmonization of Matthew with Luke.

* [8:11–12] Matthew inserts into the story a Q saying (see Lk 13:28–29) about the entrance of Gentiles into the kingdom and the exclusion of those Israelites who, though descended from the patriarchs and members of the chosen nation (the children of the kingdom), refused to believe in Jesus. There will be wailing and grinding of teeth: the first occurrence of a phrase used frequently in this gospel to describe final condemnation (Mt 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30). It is found elsewhere in the New Testament only in Lk 13:28.

* [8:14–15] Cf. Mk 1:29–31. Unlike Mark, Matthew has no implied request by others for the woman’s cure. Jesus acts on his own initiative, and the cured woman rises and waits not on “them” (Mk 1:31) but on him.

* [8:16] By a word: a Matthean addition to Mk 1:34; cf. 8:8.

* [8:17] This fulfillment citation from Is 53:4 follows the MT, not the LXX. The prophet speaks of the Servant of the Lord who suffers vicariously for the sins (“infirmities”) of others; Matthew takes the infirmities as physical afflictions. (Matthew, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB, n.d.)

Rev. Rashmi Fernando, SJ, comments that the Gospel today is a reminder that Christ’s mission is always to heal, restore, and give life. He enters our fears, our wounds, our anxieties, our disappointments, and our brokenness. He still bears our infirmities and carries our burdens.

Perhaps the Lord is inviting us today to become like the centurion: humble enough to admit our need, compassionate enough to care for others, and trusting enough to believe that one word from Christ can change everything.

 

Three questions to ponder:

1.    In what areas of my life have I limited God’s power to my own expectations, assumptions, or understanding?

2.    In what areas of my life do I feel called to approach Jesus with the humility, trust, and faith of the centurion, recognizing my deep need for His grace and healing?

3.    Who is the “servant” in my life today—a family member, friend, colleague, stranger, or even an enemy—for whom I am called to intercede, care, and pray with humility, compassion, and faith? (Fernando, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Welcoming the Lord Jesus with expectant faith and humility,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"When the Lord promised to go to the centurion's house to heal his servant, the centurion answered, 'Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.' By viewing himself as unworthy, he showed himself worthy for Christ to come not merely into his house but also into his heart. He would not have said this with such great faith and humility if he had not already welcomed in his heart the One who came into his house. It would have been no great joy for the Lord Jesus to enter into his house and not to enter his heart. For the Master of humility both by word and example sat down also in the house of a certain proud Pharisee, Simon, and though he sat down in his house, there was no place in his heart. For in his heart the Son of Man could not lay his head" (Matthew 8:20). (excerpt from SERMON 62.1) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 8:5-17 comments that the faith of this Gentile amazed Jesus! It was simple and sure, just the kind of faith that God was looking for. And it’s a great example for us. We don’t have to prove our worthiness in order to come to Jesus with our needs.

So let’s bring our needs before Jesus today with the kind of faith that the centurion showed—a faith that amazed and pleased Jesus. Let’s approach the Lord in humility, knowing that we can’t come to him on our own merit. But let’s also come with the confidence that a mere word from Jesus has the power to move mountains.

“Lord, though I am not worthy, I trust in your power and your love. Say the word, and heal me and those for whom I pray.” (Meditation on Matthew 8:5-17, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the texts for today In Lamentations, a section that laments the destruction of Jerusalem and the sufferings the people undergo. We don’t have to hide our emotions but like the Jews we want God to be part of our sufferings . Our devotion to the Sacred is God seeing that our hearts are broken. The centurion does not have to require Jesus to come to his home This is a gracious act as Jesus would be considered unclean. The Centurion knows the word will heal that servant. The passage from the Gospel of Matthew becomes a taunt and Matthew cites Isaiah to show how Jesus took away our infirmities and bore our diseases. The belief in One God means God has to be the God of all nations and Jesus fulfills this proclamation in His healing of the centurion’s servant.

Richard Rohr introduces Dr. Luther E. Smith Jr. who describes how singing as a spiritual practice can enable us to embody hope. Dr. Smith comments that Howard Thurman’s meditation “I Will Sing a New Song” builds on the Psalm 40 phrase “He [God] put a new song in my mouth,” which describes the creative response persons “must” make when previous understandings and efforts have proven deficient. In part it reads:

I will sing a new song

I must learn the new song for the new needs.

I must fashion new words born of all the new growth

            of my life—of my mind—of my spirit. [1]

The meditation names a faithful response to hope—a response that births faithful hopefulness. Singing a new song is both a means to and a sign of personal transformation. Transformation to God-centered hopefulness and beloved community is hope’s enlivening purpose…. (Rohr, n.d.)

We contemplate the richness of human culture through which the Spirit is invoked to join our lamentation in the songs and music that help carry us through hope to faith and love.

References

Fernando, R. (n.d.). Daily Reflections. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved June 27, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-june-27-2026 

Lamentations, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 27, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/lamentations/2? 

Matthew, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved June 27, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/8?5 

Meditation on Matthew 8:5-17. (n.d.). Retrieved June 27, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/06/27/1601158/ 

Psalms, PSALM 74 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 27, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/74?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC.org. Retrieved June 27, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/hope-in-hard-times-weekly-summary/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Say the Word and My Servant Will Be Healed. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 27, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

 

Laughter and Life

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to reassess the circumstances where we have limited our experience of love and full life by restricting our faith to human experience.

Laughter in the Message

The Book of Genesis proclaims Abraham’s Visitors.

* [18:1] Chapters 18 and 19 combined form a continuous narrative, concluding the story of Abraham and his nephew Lot that began in 13:2–18. The mysterious men visit Abraham in Mamre to promise him and Sarah a child the following year (18:1–15) and then visit Lot in Sodom to investigate and then to punish the corrupt city (19:1–29). Between the two visits, Abraham questions God about the justice of punishing Sodom (18:16–33). At the end of the destruction of Sodom, there is a short narrative about Lot as the ancestor of Moab and the Ammonites (19:30–38).

* [18:3] Abraham addresses the leader of the group, whom he does not yet recognize as the Lord; in the next two verses he speaks to all three men. The other two are later (Gn 19:1) identified as angels. The shifting numbers and identification of the visitors are a narrative way of expressing the mysterious presence of God.

* [18:6] Three measures: Hebrew seah; three seahs equal one ephah, about half a bushel.

* [18:8] Curds: a type of soft cheese or yogurt.

* [18:10] One of them: i.e., the Lord.

* [18:12] Sarah laughed: a play on the verb “laugh,” which prefigures the name of Isaac; see note on 17:17. (Genesis, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Response in Luke presents The Canticle of Mary.

* [1:46–55] Although Mary is praised for being the mother of the Lord and because of her belief, she reacts as the servant in a psalm of praise, the Magnificat. Because there is no specific connection of the canticle to the context of Mary’s pregnancy and her visit to Elizabeth, the Magnificat (with the possible exception of v. 48) may have been a Jewish Christian hymn that Luke found appropriate at this point in his story. Even if not composed by Luke, it fits in well with themes found elsewhere in Luke: joy and exultation in the Lord; the lowly being singled out for God’s favor; the reversal of human fortunes; the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. The loose connection between the hymn and the context is further seen in the fact that a few Old Latin manuscripts identify the speaker of the hymn as Elizabeth, even though the overwhelming textual evidence makes Mary the speaker. (Luke, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew proclaims the Healing of a Centurion’s Servant.

* [8:5–13] This story comes from Q (see Lk 7:1–10) and is also reflected in Jn 4:46–54. The similarity between the Q story and the Johannine is due to a common oral tradition, not to a common literary source. As in the later story of the daughter of the Canaanite woman (Mt 15:21–28) Jesus here breaks with his usual procedure of ministering only to Israelites and anticipates the mission to the Gentiles. (Matthew, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB, n.d.)

Rev. Martha Slocombe comments that Sarah’s laugh­ing was like­ly an invol­un­tary scoff­ing, but the denial of her laugh­ter was a con­scious choice. She want­ed to cov­er up her embar­rass­ment. So why include Sarah’s denial in scrip­ture? Why is it impor­tant? 

Because this did­n’t hold Sarah back from play­ing a great role in God’s plan. Because Sarah was not defined by the laugh­ter nor the denial of it: being a per­son of faith means reck­on­ing with our cringey and unsa­vory moments and not let­ting them define us. It’s an invi­ta­tion to be hon­est with our­selves because the Lord already knows the truth. It’s scary to hold up our cringi­est moments to God, to oth­ers, and maybe even most­ly to our­selves; and it’s also free­ing because it opens us up to the real and great pos­si­bil­i­ty God has in store for us. Some­thing beyond our wildest imag­i­na­tion. So don’t pray for God to take those moments away, pray that you will not let them define you and that you will be open to the plans that God has in store for you. (Slocombe, 2025)

Don Schwager quotes “Welcoming the Lord Jesus with expectant faith and humility,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"When the Lord promised to go to the centurion's house to heal his servant, the centurion answered, 'Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.' By viewing himself as unworthy, he showed himself worthy for Christ to come not merely into his house but also into his heart. He would not have said this with such great faith and humility if he had not already welcomed in his heart the One who came into his house. It would have been no great joy for the Lord Jesus to enter into his house and not to enter his heart. For the Master of humility both by word and example sat down also in the house of a certain proud Pharisee, Simon, and though he sat down in his house, there was no place in his heart. For in his heart the Son of Man could not lay his head" (Matthew 8:20). (excerpt from SERMON 62.1) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Genesis 18:1-15 comments that Sarah’s visitors don’t condemn or reproach her for her outburst. They simply ask why she was laughing and then reassure her of God’s promise (Genesis 18:13-14). In fact, they might have been laughing along with her and thinking, “Just you wait; God isn’t done with you yet!”

God isn’t done with any of us yet. He is fully committed to his promises to us: promises to bless us, to forgive us, to fill us with his Spirit, and to bring healing to the hurts in our lives. He is also steadfast in his promise to mold us into disciples eager to witness to his love and redemption. So trust in his promises, even when they come to you in the form of an unexpected visitor with a preposterous message.

“Lord, let your faithfulness to me fill my heart with joy and laughter!” (Meditation on Genesis 18:1-15, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments in the Genesis passage how Abraham shows three visitors enormous hospitality that was expected in a desert country so as not to condemn them to death. God and angels receive from Abraham and promise a child to Sarah, who laughed about bearing a child, Isaac brings joy to the parents. In the Gospel of Matthew a Samaritan who calls for healing for the servant expresses an act of courtesy to acknowledge being considered unclean and trusting Jesus to just give the order. The people of Israel are slower to believe than the outsider. The healing of Peter’s mother in Law shows us to use the favour to serve others. Friar Jude notes that Jesus fulfilled Isaiah and took away our infirmities, the role of the Messiah in the Scripture and also including the Gentiles.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Father Greg Boyle, the founder of Homeboy Industries, a gang-rehabilitation organization that operates on the principle that in the kinship of God, we all belong. Fr Greg asks  “How do we arrive at a place and tenor of community that asserts: Nobody VS. Anybody?” This is, in fact, a good definition of the kinship of God…. No Us and Them, just Us. This is, indeed, God’s dream come true….”  

I recently spoke on a panel … [and] I told the crowd that two unwavering principles held at Homeboy Industries were the following: 1) Everyone is unshakably good (no exceptions) and 2) We belong to each other (no exceptions). Then I posited: “Now, do I think all our vexing and complex social dilemmas would disappear if we embraced those two notions?” I paused, then continued, “Yes, I do.” And the entire audience exploded in laughter. I was startled. When the laughter subsided, I repeated quietly: “Yes, I do.”  

These two ideas allow us to roll up our sleeves so that we can actually make progress. So that we can love without measure and without regret. So that we can cultivate a new way of seeing. We finally understand that the answer to every question is, indeed, compassion. How else do we bridge the great polarizing divide that presents itself now, as a clear and present danger in our country? … (Rohr, n.d.)

We ponder the “What” and the “Why” around the limits we put on the extent of love, mercy and compassion, especially in our experience of Divine love, that limit our openness to fullness of life.

References

Genesis, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 28, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/genesis/18?1 

Luke, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 28, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/1?46 

Matthew, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 28, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/8?5 

Meditation on Genesis 18:1-15. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved June 28, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/06/28/1318550/ 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Creating Communities of Change: Weekly Summary. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 28, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/creating-communities-of-change-weekly-summary/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Say the Word and My Servant Will Be Healed. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 28, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=jun28 

Slocombe, M. (2025, June 28). Daily Reflection June 28, 2025 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved June 28, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-june-28-2025