two approaches - 24th week monday

There are two approaches to Jesus in the gospel.  The first approach is that of the elders asking Jesus to heal the centurion’s slave.  They said to Jesus, "He deserves to have you do this for him,for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us."

The second approach is that of the centurion himself who said, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof…but say the word and let my servant be healed.”

Notice the contrast.  The first says, He deserves.  While the other says, I am not worthy.  

These words of the centurion are the very same words we use to express our own sentiments in receiving the Lord in Holy Communion – Lord, I am not worthy to have you under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. 

Whenever we come to the mass then, whenever we meet the Lord, we come with a humble disposition.  Pride ruins us.  Whenever a person or a group insists that he is more deserving than others, conflicts happen.  Whenever a person or a group insists that they are better than the rest, divisions happen.  And that is exactly what happened to the Corinthian Christians in our first reading when they quarreled among themselves even as they celebrate the Eucharist.  

Let us always be humble.  When the centurion admitted that he was not worthy, that he was not deserving of the good he was asking, Jesus immediately took note and said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith."  Humility is the key to the heart of God, as pride was our ruin starting at the garden of Eden.