Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord! Today’s Gospel reading confirms those things that were said last week about serving God while living a comfortable and calm life. The centurion lived not simplу well, but also had many people under his authority. Despite this, his zealous faith was in no way encumbered and, as a result, Christ even complimented him!

The Holy Apostle Matthew was not the only one who wrote about the centurion meeting Jesus Christ and the miraculous healing of this Roman official’s servant. The Evangelist Luke also writes about these events, although his account does not follow St. Matthew’s to the letter. If you’re interested you can compare these two places from the Gospels for yourself (Chapter 8 in Matthew and Chapter 7 in Luke). St. John Chrysostom does a fine and detailed job examining these passages and building one unified picture out of the two (again, if you’re interested and you have the time you can read this explanation here: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/200126.htm).

Right now it’s enough for us to know that the centurion did not immediately come to the Saviour. At first he sent the Jewish elders so that they would invite Christ to his home. Then, he sent others to tell Christ that he is unworthy to accept Him into his house, and only later, as we heard in today’s Gospel reading, he personally appears before Jesus. At first glance, this man seems to have lost all reason. At first he calls the Teacher, then he refuses to accept Him, and finally this important, wealthy Roman leaves his home and wades into the Jewish crowd surrounding the Jewish Christ to ask for help. Although this seems illogical, Chrysostom notes that this type of behaviour is understandable if we remember the deep grief and worry this man was feeling for his ill and dying servant. He knew not what to do. He was lost and therefore changed his mind several times.

Without a doubt the centurion had rather unique faith. As a rule the Jews would come to Christ or would bring their ailing relatives to Him so that they could be cured. They came to a great prophet and to a unique miracle worker, but in the end they were coming to a man. The centurion did not act in such a way. This pagan, this imperial official and soldier, this rich and powerful man somehow realized that Jesus was not a man, but the God-man. Since Jesus is not a simple man but the God-man, one of the Persons of the Trinity, the Creator of the whole world, since He is everywhere present and fills all things, He is capable of anything, be it healing someone through His touch or simply with His word from a distance.

Today the whole world is, like the centurion, in a state of confusion. In general it is hard to say what the future holds for us. The appearance of the virus has led to the fear of death gripping certain people, the economic condition of the world is in a pitiable state, many people are jobless and have lost all hope. It is unclear what is transpiring in the political and civic life of the western world. Russia has a new constitution. What the future is there is unclear. The Church in different parts of the world, lead by different people, is reacting differently to everything happening around it. This, in turn, is leading to conflicts between the faithful, between brothers and sisters in Christ. Perhaps it is time for us to remember the everywhere-present God who fills everything with Himself, to join ourselves to the confession of the centurion and say: Lord, I am not worthy that you would come to me, because I am controlled by my own passions. I feel a need to eat and I go to the store and buy as much food as I desire; I become tired and I lay down in my comfortable bed and sleep till I am refreshed; I suffer from boredom and I turn on the television or download whatever I wish off the internet and I satiate my boredom with empty entertainment, etc, etc. But only say the word, though my sins have separated me from You, and all my sins, all my passions will be healed.

priest Alexis