Today's passage is also remarkable, among other things, because it is the only event in the Gospels where it is said that "Jesus marveled" at the strength of a person's faith. Really, what can amaze God? Only perhaps, as in Nazareth, when He marveled at unbelief. He knows all our thoughts beforehand; every one of our steps is known to Him (see Ps. 138). And yet the centurion's request amazes Him. What is so unusual about this soldier's words? What did he say that Christ sets him as an example to His disciples and to all God's people, warning them against the danger of being cast into the outer darkness (see Matt. 8:12)?

This man very clearly, as is characteristic of people of his cast of mind, sees his place in relation to Christ: not only is he a Gentile, he also serves in the occupying forces. And still he comes to Jesus boldly and explains simply and directly what he wants, fully understanding that under normal circumstances he has no way to receive it. But thanks to such humility before the circumstances, something is opened to him that perhaps those around him do not see at all. The centurion, sensing that before him stands not merely a man, understands that Christ does not need to come to the sick man and touch him in the physical sense of the word. Perhaps the Lord healed people in that way because it was easier for them themselves to receive healing that way. But the centurion's faith allows him to see that Christ, the Son of God, can act outside space and time, and that one thought of His and one glance of His are enough for salvation and healing. And the depth of this man's insight proved able to amaze God...

How strange we would look if we came to a doctor with a broken arm, asking for help but not allowing him to touch it. The same can be said of our prayer asking for help, but without faith...

In response to the centurion's request, Jesus did not say something like "let what you ask be done for you" or "your servant has recovered; go." He says: "Go; and as you have believed, let it be done for you" (Matt. 5:13). In this way He tells us the main thing: it is not enough simply to ask; faith is necessary. It is faith that fills the request with "power," makes it real and full. For if one asks someone for help without believing that it can be given, one will scarcely receive it. Besides, if we do not believe that the Lord can help us, we in effect close the road to Him, that is, we simply do not give Him the opportunity to provide that very help.

That is why Christ said: "Have faith in God. For truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:23-24).

Our God, the God of harmony and order, dearly loves what we call the "golden mean" or the "royal path." He, who holds the universe in balance, knows how difficult it is to find balance. And for us, people who do not possess His wisdom and vision, it is practically impossible not to slide into one of the extremes that open before us. This kind of tightrope walking is beyond our strength, especially since we are trying to walk this rope not as saints, leaving everything behind in trust in God, but with all the bundles of our own ideas about what is right and what is not, with all our cultural and other baggage. Perhaps these things are useful in some respects, but on the way to God they only cloud our sight. And then we become very much like the person in today's Gospel reading who approached Jesus second (see Matt. 8:21-22): it is very hard for us to part with what separates us from God.

This call, which appears cruel to many, to leave one's unburied father and follow Jesus, conveys very precisely what the Lord truly wants from us. He proposes that we not cling to this world, but, having weighed everything, renounce temptations and set out on the path toward happiness. Yet this must be done in a measured way, because against one extreme, not daring to follow Christ, there is always another: to run headlong without knowing where, making a mess in the process and deeply wounding those around us. Christ gently checks such an unbridled follower (see Matt. 8:19-20) and calls him to a measured decision.

It turns out that following God requires at the same time both radicalism, the resolve to follow Christ leaving everything behind, and a serious act of will, the utmost collectedness. What remains is to learn to find balance...