O LORD, I AM NOT WORTHY

A REFLECTION FOR THE 3RD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

When someone important invites us to his home, our natural inclination is to accept right away.  We might be afraid that a refusal would offend him, or we might welcome the opportunity to ask him for a favor; we might see it as an overture of friendship or approval from a superior, or maybe we’d just welcome having some free food.  Whatever our motivation, we gladly accept the invite.  And then we start having our little qualms of “unworthiness”, which take many forms…

What should I wear?  Would my blue evening gown impress him, or would my MAGA hat offend him?  Will the children behave?  Will my husband belch after the dessert?  Should I bring a bottle of wine or flowers for his wife?  And why has he invited us anyway?  What’s his agenda? 

When a Roman centurion asks our Lord to come to his home, his reason for doing so is made clear: “My servant lieth at home sick.”  Our Lord’s acceptance is immediate and unambiguous: “I will come and heal him.”  Just in case our Lord isn’t aware of the centurion’s importance, the soldier doesn’t hesitate in making it quite clear: “I have soldiers under me, and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh.”  The centurion’s motive in providing this information to our Lord is not to impress him, but rather the contrary.  He is telling Jesus that he could quite easily command him to come and heal his servant, but instead of giving him orders, he is instead “beseeching him” to come.  In other words, he is recognizing that no matter how important he might be, our Lord is far superior.

This is why our Lord marvels at the centurion’s faith.  Here is a Gentile, a member of the army occupying the sacred land of Israel.  And yet, says our Lord, he has more faith than the Jews.  It is not the invited guest in this case who has second thoughts about his unworthiness, but rather, the person inviting Jesus to his home: “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof.”

Today, how many non-Catholics often seem to have more faith than we do?  How often do we marvel at the faith of evangelical Protestants, Novus Ordo Catholics, while we are scandalized by the lack of our own faith and others who have remained true to our Catholic traditions.  It’s something to think about, especially as we listen to our Lord’s own words in today’s Gospel, that “many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down.. in the kingdom of heaven.  But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  We have here an open reprimand from God: just because we call ourselves traditional Catholics does not mean we are practicing the faith the way God wants.  We must constantly review our relationship with God, and judge it as one day God surely will.  “O Lord, I am not worthy.”