June 27, 2026
Saturday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time / Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Gospel: Matthew 8:5–17

Today is Saturday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time. The Church celebrates the optional memorial of Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church.

The Roman Martyrology tells us: Saint Cyril (c. 376–444), born in Alexandria, succeeded his uncle as Patriarch of Alexandria in 412. He devoted his life to refuting heresies and played a leading role at the Council of Ephesus in 431, where the errors of Nestorius were condemned. In 1882, he was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church.

In today’s Gospel passage from Saint Matthew, we hear of the encounter between Jesus and a centurion after entering Capernaum. I would like to offer some reflections on this text.

In the time of Jesus, centurions held considerable authority. Yet the centurion described by Saint Matthew, though powerful, sets aside his rank because of concern for his servant and approaches Jesus with humility. When our Lord, moved by compassion, offers to go to the centurion’s house to heal the servant, the officer responds: “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 under 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” (Mt 8:8–9). What remarkable faith! He is certain that Jesus can heal his servant—a striking contrast to the self-centered attitude often found in our own prayers. Ironically, such humble trust was more common among outsiders than among many of the Jews of Jesus’ day, who, as God’s chosen people, often presumed themselves exclusively entitled to divine favor, looking down upon the uncircumcised Gentiles as unworthy of God’s gifts.

Consider the centurion’s servant and Peter’s mother-in-law: both received healing through the grace poured out by Jesus (cf. Mt 8:13, 14–17). And what of us? Through water and the Holy Spirit, we have been reborn in Christ. Thus, the Lord Christ, rich in mercy, fulfills the word of the prophet Isaiah: “He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases” (cf. Mt 8:17; Is 53:4). By His mighty right hand, He heals us, cleansing us in the “rivers of living water” flowing from the Sacred Heart of Jesus (cf. Jn 7:37–38), washing away the stain of sin and the death inherited from Adam and Eve, and raising us to live in the light of Christ, the true Light of the world.

Grant, O Lord, that we may always revere and love your holy name, for you never deprive of your guidance those you set firm on the foundation of your love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,God, for ever and ever

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica