Monday 28 November

Isaiah 2: 1-5, Ps. 122, Matthew 8: 5-11

From east and west

Immediately before this miracle, Matthew reports the healing of a leper. Straight afterwards, he records the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. The three miracles show Jesus healing those excluded from full membership of the people of Israel. Visiting a Gentile household would have made Jesus unclean. The centurion’s extraordinary faith forestalls the decision of Jesus to break this particular barrier, and stimulates Jesus into the provocative declaration that in future many Gentiles would enter the kingdom of God. Today, how open are those of us from European ethnic backgrounds to learning from the vibrant faith communities of, for example, Africa and Asia?