“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.” (Matthew 8:8b)

In the past three months or so, we have become used to things happening at a distance from us. Children and young people have been taught at a distance, as lessons are given on line. People shop at a distance as they go to the websites of stores and have items delivered to their door. Parishioners have been attending Mass at a distance, as they tune in to parish Masses via livestream. 

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus heals at a distance. When a Roman centurion pled with Jesus about his seriously ill servant, Jesus was willing to go to this pagan’s home, just as he subsequently went to the home of Peter’s mother-in-law. However, the centurion would not allow him saying, “I am not worthy to have you under my roof.” A version of the words of this pagan centurion have become part of the text of our Eucharist. That is because this pagan articulates a truth that applies to us all. None of us are worthy to receive the Lord into our homes, into our hearts. Yet, the good news is that Jesus does not ask us to be worthy. He only asks us to be receptive and open. Jesus could enter his home without having to physically go there. The centurion knew the power of his own word on his subordinates, and he believed that the word of Jesus was much more powerful, powerful enough to heal at a distance. 

The centurion symbolizes all those pagans who would come to believe in Jesus without having seen or heard him, all those who believed in Jesus without having physical contact with him. In that sense, the centurion represents us all. We believe that the Lord can enter our homes, our lives, without his having to enter our homes physically. Like the centurion, we believe that the Lord is never really distant from us. He can enter our homes, our hearts, our lives, at every hour of every day. “Only say the word.” Even when we are unable to physically attend Mass, the Lord’s word can grace and bless us at any time, in any place. All the Lord needs for that to happen is for us to have something of the centurion’s faith, something of his openness of heart and sense of expectancy. Then the Lord will be astonished at us, as he was astonished at the centurion.

Blessings, 

Deacon Jack

P.S.

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