"Clearly, this was the Son of God!"
This was the faith exclamation of the centurion and his men when the witnessed Jesus' glorious death on the cross. For after He breathed His last the earth quaked and tombs were opened. And after His resurrection, those who died rose again and went around town making their rising from the dead known.
This faith exclamation of the centurion was a faith exclamation made because He witnessed Jesus' death - a death that was not like any other death he probably has witnessed on the cross. How much this faith statement could have solved the unbelief of all those who wanted Him dead and crucified. It was because of the Pharisees and the religious leaders and all those people around them who did not believe in Jesus that caused them to be blind to the truth that He was really the Messiah sent by the Father. Only a few. Only those who saw Him up close and were touched by His life and works of healing, teaching and preaching, really believed in Him. However, there were those who were also witnesses to all these and still were to blind to see and so obstinate in their pride that a Messiah could come from humble origins.
Jesus continued on despite the unbelief of people. He had to fulfill the mission the Father had entrusted to Him. And so He went about Galilee and Jerusalem preaching about the love of the Father and teaching the Good News to the poor and the oppressed. He did great wonders and signs: healing the blind, the leper, the deaf and mute, the lame, and raising even the dead to life. However, the Pharisees and the religious authorities of that time rejected His teaching and His claim of being the Son of God. But Jesus was obedient to the will of the Father. Despite the fact that He knew that what He would continue doing will soon lead to His death, He nevertheless said, "Not My will be done, but Your will be done." And so, after the Last Supper, He gave the example of a life of service by choosing a symbol that would teach the apostles to do the same with others: the washing of the feet and the institution of the Eucharist (the sacrament of His total self-giving for all).
We are blessed because we believe in Jesus as the Messiah and as our Savior. We are even more blessed because we believe though we had not seen Him. How terrible it must be for those who already see the good works that He does and yet still do not believe. It has to take a simple centurion and his men to witness the glorious death of Jesus on the cross to exclaim, "Clearly, this was the Son of God!"
Maybe as we begin this Holy Week, we can be called to reflect on how much we believe in Jesus and how much He wishes to save us from our lack of faith and our sinfulness. It is a call now to increase our faith in Him and to see His way as still the way we need to follow in the world today. Though Christianity is being downplayed by many societies that are becoming too secularized, we are called to be the remnant: those who remain faithful to the end - those who like the Blessed Mother's example, and St. John's example, stood at the foot of the cross and was in strong solidarity with Jesus till the end.
