People have been fighting with one another since the fall in the Garden. War is commonplace. I think that at any given time in history, there has always been at least one war going on somewhere in the world. It won’t always be that way, though. Peace will come. You can read about it in today’s first reading from Isaiah 2. Our Gospel reading today is one that should have a familiar ring to it. A centurion asks Jesus to come to his home and heal his servant.
When Jesus offers to go to the centurion’s house to cure the servant, the centurion says to Jesus, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.” Such faith! As Catholics, we should be very familiar with those words. We say a modified version of them immediately before we receive the Eucharist. Remember? “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”
This prayer so touches me each time I say it at Mass. Because I mean it. I am not worthy to receive the Lord Jesus. With all my sins and baggage, I have absolutely no business walking up to receive the Author of Life into my body. Can you imagine if the Eucharist were only given to those who were “worthy?” All of us sinners would have to run for the exits. But the Church tells us that, just by receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, our sins (venial sins) are forgiven. We are healed. Now that’s the kind of news I want to share with the world!
Father, thank you for giving us Your Son, Jesus, even though we are not worthy. You have given us the Word, and we are healed. Amen.
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