5 November 2026 · Syro-Malabar Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malankara Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.” Matthew 8:8
A Roman centurion, a Gentile and an officer of the occupying army, comes to Jesus for his servant. His humility and faith astonish Jesus: “In no one in Israel have I found such faith.” Then Jesus opens the horizon: “Many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”
Paul calls this the mystery hidden for ages and now revealed: the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body. We Indians are among those who came “from the east”. The centurion's words have become the prayer of the Church before Communion: Lord, I am not worthy… but only say the word.
Theme: “Only say the word.”
A Gentile centurion's faith opens the vision of all nations at the banquet of the Kingdom.
“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:6
“The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.”” Matthew 8:8
Apply: Say the centurion's words slowly before Communion.
“In days to come the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.” Isaiah 2:2
“I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 8:11
Apply: Pray for missionaries from Kerala serving abroad.
“For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” Isaiah 56:7
“When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.”” Matthew 8:10
Apply: Pray for one sick person you know.
One word of Jesus is enough.
Let us come to him with humble faith.
Take-home resolution: Pray for the sick of your parish this week.
Dear friends, a Roman centurion, a Gentile and an officer of the occupying army, comes to Jesus for his servant. His humility and faith, Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; only speak the word, astonish Jesus: in no one in Israel have I found such faith (Matthew 8:8–10). Many will come from east and west and eat with Abraham in the kingdom of heaven.
Paul says the mystery revealed to him is that the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:6). The door of God's house is open to every nation.
Today we remember Sts Zechariah and Elizabeth. They were righteous before God; they waited many years and kept praying, and God gave them John the Baptist. Let us pray with the humility of the centurion and the perseverance of this holy couple. Before every Holy Qurbana, let us repeat the centurion's words in our hearts. Amen.
Children, Zechariah and Elizabeth prayed for many years, and God gave them John. Don't stop praying even when the answer is slow!
Lord Jesus, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed. Gather all nations into your Kingdom. Amen.
Both readings open the doors of God's house to the nations. Paul announces the "mystery" that the Gentiles are fellow heirs with Israel. In the Gospel a Gentile centurion shows a faith that amazes Jesus, and Jesus foresees many coming "from east and west" to the banquet of the kingdom. Today the Church also remembers Sts Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist.
Setting.
Ephesians 2 has just described how Christ broke down "the dividing wall" between Jews and Gentiles and made them one new people (2:14–16), "a holy temple in the Lord" (2:21). In chapter 3 Paul, writing as a prisoner, explains his own part in this plan.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles” (3:1)
Paul's chains are part of his mission. He was arrested in Jerusalem because he brought the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 21:28; 22:21–22).
“In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind” (3:5)
The prophets had glimpsed that the nations would come to Zion (Isaiah 2:2–3), but the full form of the plan, one body in Christ, was revealed only after Easter.
“that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” (3:6)
The Gentiles are joined to the promise first made to Abraham. The Church does not replace Israel's hope; she is grafted into it (compare Romans 11:17–18).
How the Church reads it.
The Second Vatican Council teaches that the Church is the new People of God, gathered from Jews and Gentiles and made one in the Spirit (Lumen Gentium 9). The same Council asks Christians to remember that the Church received the revelation of the Old Testament through the people of Israel (Nostra Aetate 4).
Setting.
After the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5–7), Matthew presents ten mighty works of Jesus (chapters 8–9). The first three heal people on the edge of Israel's community: a leper, the servant of a Gentile officer, and a woman, Peter's mother-in-law. Capernaum, on the Sea of Galilee, was Jesus' base during his ministry.
A centurion commanded about a hundred soldiers. In Galilee he was probably in the service of Herod Antipas. Luke's account of the same event says that this man loved the Jewish people and built their synagogue (Luke 7:5).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.” (8:8)
A Jew who entered a Gentile house could become ritually unclean. The centurion spares Jesus this, and he believes that Jesus' word works at a distance, as God's word does.
“Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.” (8:10)
Only twice in the Gospels is Jesus said to be amazed: at this man's faith and at the unbelief of his own town (Mark 6:6).
“many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (8:11)
An echo of the prophets who saw the nations gathered for God's banquet (Isaiah 25:6). The warning of v. 12 about "the heirs of the kingdom" is not a judgment on the Jewish people as such; it warns everyone, Christians included, that belonging is not enough without faith.
How the Church reads it.
St Augustine says that by calling himself unworthy, the centurion became worthy to receive Christ, not under his roof but into his heart (in substance). The Roman liturgy places his words on the lips of every communicant before Holy Communion, and the Catechism quotes them in its teaching on the Eucharist (CCC 1386).
Sts Zechariah and Elizabeth, remembered today, were "righteous before God" (Luke 1:6). Elizabeth was the first to greet Mary as "the mother of my Lord" (Luke 1:43). Like the centurion, they lived by trust in God's word, and Zechariah learned in silence to believe what the angel promised.