Faith & Worth
Monday of the First Week of Advent
Read this Gospel passage aloud to the family
Matthew 8:5-11 - When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully." He said to him, "I will come and cure him." The centurion said in reply, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven."
(Parent) Reread this part a few times aloud
“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.”
(Parent) Read this meditation aloud to the family
We have all heard this phrase before. The last sentence that we utter before receiving Communion is taken from this passage. How remarkable! This man actually amazes the infinite God! And this isn’t because he is especially good, but because he is especially humble. He knows that none of us receives God because we deserve to receive Him. We can never deserve Him. We receive God because God wants to give Himself to us!
Humility isn’t about not accepting compliments. Humility is about admitting and accepting who and what we are. We are people who desperately need God, but who certainly do not deserve to have Him come and be one with us. This makes Christ’s act of giving His life so precious to us—He didn’t need to do it. Next time we receive the Eucharist, let’s all close our eyes and spend some time thanking God for the gift of Himself—a gift He isn’t obliged to give us.
As a family, pray a portion of the Rosary together (very short if children are young) reflecting on the Scripture passage above. (Optional: allow a brief time for discussion or questions from children concerning their thoughts and prayer.)
