When I think of my grandma, I often picture her sitting on the front porch. Her house did not have central air conditioning; even with open windows, it would sometimes be uncomfortably hot inside. Looking for a breeze, we often found her sitting at the entrance of her house… like Abraham in today’s first reading.

The LORD appeared to Abraham by the Terebinth of Mamre, as Abraham sat in the entrance of his tent, while the day was growing hot. (Genesis 18:1)

I like to think that God sometimes heats things up to move us out of our comfort zones. Stepping out of the familiar, the known, and the expected, we can look up to God to bring us the unexpected. “Sarah laughed to herself” when she heard she would have a son in her old age, yet nothing is hidden from God. “I didn’t laugh,” she said. “Yes, you did,” replied the LORD. I wonder what happened in Sarah’s heart when confronted with the truth. Her fears are revealed, exposed… like the heat of the day, the warmth of God’s love calls her out from the comfort of what she knows into the infinite possibilities with God… “Is anything too marvelous for the LORD to do?” (Genesis 18:14)

In today’s Gospel, we hear the story of the centurion who amazed Jesus with his faith. Oh, the humanity of Jesus! That God allows himself to be amazed by his creature means that we can still amaze him today. Perhaps, as he is raised up on the altar from the host, he will look down at us and say, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith… as you have believed, let it be done for you.” (Matthew 8:10,13)

Let us pray:

“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my soul will be healed.” (Matthew 8:8)