Lord, I Am Not Worthy

Saturday, June 28th Readings Reflection: Saturday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Today’s Gospel recounts how a centurion came to Jesus to seek healing for his servant. Jesus immediately said that He would go to the centurion’s house and cure him, but the centurion replied, in a beautiful act of faith: “Lord, I am not worthy that [T]hou shouldst enter under my roof: but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed” (Mt 8:8 DRB).

We pray these beautiful words at each Mass, before receiving Holy Communion. In the Tridentine Mass, this prayer is prayed three times, addressing each Person of the Blessed Trinity: first God the Father, then God the Son, then God the Holy Ghost. This calls to mind the powerful reality that while the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Jesus Christ, is physically present in the Holy Eucharist, the Blessed Trinity is also present by virtue of the undivided unity of the Divine Persons.

Jesus is consubstantial with the Father, as we pray in the Nicene Creed, and the Holy Ghost proceeds from both the Father and the Son. Although they are three distinct Persons, they share the same divine nature. Thus, when we receive the Holy Eucharist, we receive the physical presence of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Who is the eternal Word of the Father and through Whom is breathed forth the love that is the Holy Ghost.

This eternal wisdom-Word-love cycle occurs physically within us when we receive Holy Communion. We are not worthy to receive such an infinite gift, as the centurion in today’s Gospel said. However, God desires to have this intimate physical union with us, so as long as we are in the state of grace, He invites us to receive Him in the Holy Eucharist. This reality must not make us grow complacent or ignore our unworthiness; rather, it should lead us to a humble contrition like that of the centurion. As St. Augustine wrote in his commentary on this Gospel passage, “By declaring himself unworthy, [the centurion] shewed himself worthy, not indeed into whose house, but into whose heart, Christ the Word of God should enter” (Catena Aurea).

When we approach the altar to receive Our Lord in Holy Communion at Mass tomorrow, may we do so with a humble recognition of our unworthiness and sincerely pray, along with the centurion, “Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

Disputation of the Holy Sacrament, by Raphael. Public domain.