Step by Step

MATTHEW 8:5-17

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, but the children of the Kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."

And Jesus said to the centurion, "You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you." And at that very hour his servant was healed.

Jesus entered the house of Peter, and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she rose and waited on him. When it was evening, they brought him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick, to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet: He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.

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The prophecy of Isaiah makes a very interesting point about how Jesus was called: as the One taking away our infirmities and bearing our diseases.

I pray to God for a faith as strong as that of the centurion. It may have taken Him quite a difficult time trying to rely on God's word alone, but in the end, God's word prevailed.

How much do I trust God about His plans for me? Am I planning ahead too much for my state in life?

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Also, I have an exam on infectious diseases on Monday. Please pray for me.

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I am very happy. I already met my new spiritual director (I will abbreviate this as SD), after not being able to seek direction for the past few months. Throughout last year I had been seeing a Dominican spiritual director and I fondly remember those times that I discussed how God makes me feel His call to service.

But, as I recounted my experiences and convictions to my new SD, this time a Jesuit, God has given me a new call: to discern His call step by step.

All along I may have been meditating about affairs that may merit my attention in the distant future: stuff like intersecting my desires and the needs of His people. I can't help it. But right now, I feel that God is telling me to reorient my journey and climb the ladder towards fully answering His call one step at a time.

One of the concrete things that my SD told me to achieve was this: attend first a vocation seminar. I have read a lot about vocation, in the process of writing this blog and as I interacted with various people discerning about a vocation, like in the Holy Vocations blog. But my SD strongly suggested that a vocation seminar would set my perspective and at the same time, delineate better what God wants to happen in my life.

But the vocation seminar would be held at a date that I am not sure I am free.

Please help me pray for God's will. Please help me pray for the ability to attend that seminar.

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John Brown, SJ gave me a very beautiful icon depicting Our Lord, Our Lady of the Way, and Saint Ignatius of Loyola. I am still waiting for his permission to post it onto this blog.

Thank you Brother!

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Saint Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us.

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photo credits: http://www.lifeasachristianwoman.com/wp-content/uploads/Jesus_healing.jpg, http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2007/06/10/images/2007061050110601.jpg