Healing Speak

There is a prayer that I learned when I was young and it was one that I always found a bit confusing.

During the Holy Eucharist, just before the priest takes the host, we would all say, "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed."

I couldn't understand why we were praying to have Jesus say something to heal us.

And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, 'Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. - Luke 7:6-7

Today's Gospel reading explains the origin of the strange request.

It comes from a centurion whose slave is ill.  The encounter with Jesus is an unusual one because neither the centurion nor the slave actually ever meet Jesus.

Others come to Jesus on behalf of the centurion, first the elders and then friends.

The story highlights the respect the centurion has for authority and how that respect leads to healing.  All you need to do, the centurion is telling Jesus, is to say it is so, and it will be done, for you have the authority to heal.

We are saying the same thing when we pray.  We humble ourselves, telling Jesus we are not worthy to have him come under our roof, so all we need is his word.

Of course, we want so much more.  We want to have him with us always, and that he is, but the message is to come humbly before God.

We acknowledge that it was from a single word that all of creation came to be, so the effort it takes for God to heal us is small compared to what it takes for us to come before him in faith.

We make it hard.

The centurion was able to get to Jesus through those who respected and admired him, elders and friends who believed in him because of the good he had done.  He was worthy in their eyes, even though he was not in his own.

That is how God sees us, worthy despite all we see or don't see in ourselves.  So the love of God and all the grace of His unending love comes to us, whether we deserve it or not.

So, we pray.  Only say the word, Lord, and we shall be healed.

More to come...