Lord, I am not worthy

Guido Ceronetti, an Italian writer, once gave a wonderful definition of humility, which at first glance is not entirely connected with heroism, but looking at the whole, everything makes sense. He said, "To be humble is to be a hero of weakness."

Today in the Gospel we hear of a man who, in his humility, confesses his weakness and unworthiness. He is sincere. He says: Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed (Mt 8:8). These words sound familiar to our ears. We say similar words at Mass. We say, " Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed". We repeat these words just before receiving Holy Communion, but we rarely think about where these words come from. Today's Gospel gives us the answer: these are the words that the pious centurion addresses to Christ.

Jesus, hearing the words, praises the Roman officer, appreciating his deep faith and his trust in the Son of God. This trust was so great that these words are repeated at every Mass. The words of the centurion in today's Gospel are an expression of trust in the action of Divine Providence. This Roman soldier believed in the power of the word of the Master of Nazareth. It was enough for him to provide, a promise to heal his servant. It did not require the physical presence of Jesus. In this way he showed his humble faith in the power of the Son of God. At the same time, it was a proof of great trust in God's action in human life. It was a proof of entrusting to Providence the fate of another human being.

Today, the centurion looks at each of us and asks about the trust in Divine Providence. This Roman soldier wants to show us the great value and power to believe that God is at work. Do we believe that God can help us? Or maybe every failure, unpleasant experience, harm suffered undermine the tenuous faith that God cares for each of us?

Saint Padre Pio once said words that aptly describe today's Gospel. The Italian stigmatist said: "It is not enough to believe in God or to believe God, but it is also necessary to entrust oneself to the Heavenly Father, and with childlike submission." The centurion trusted God. He did not calculate, "If he comes, a miracle will happen; he will not come – the servant will not recover." He believed. But he believed with humility.

Perhaps what we ask for in prayer is far from being fulfilled because of the lack of humility in the request. It is already the case that usually everyone wants it to be the way they want it to be. We say, "Thy will be done," and in our minds, "My will be done," and we are surprised that this is not happening. Without humility, it is impossible to experience a miracle in one's life. The prayer of a humble person becomes a place where we can meet God who heals and works miracles. Without humility, it will be very difficult.

The best remedy for pride is humility. A difficult remedy, a bitter remedy, but the only one that protects against the deadly venom of pride. To humble oneself is to stand in the truth about oneself. And show the truth to others. To let others see me as a child, to let me see my helplessness, my smallness. To show what is hidden in pride, in sin.

Maybe, that is why there is so much evil around us, because we can't, because we are afraid of this truth, because everyone wants to be great.

Once a pious man asked a spiritual director:
- "Father, I have already attained twelve degrees of humility. What should I do next? And the spiritual director said:
- "Go down: start again with the first one.

The centurion is a model for us how to descend from a high degree to the lowest degree of humility. The centurion was rich, he could afford servants, he even built a synagogue, commanded a hundred soldiers in the army, and said that he was not worthy for Jesus to come to him. This is the attitude of authentic humility and faith. Thanks to this, the centurion experiences a miracle in his life.

Let us also always remember that miracles, like prayer, do not work like a vending machine that, after throwing the appropriate coin, gives us what we want. As one theologian wrote: "Faith does not flow from a miracle, but a miracle from faith. And this out of humble faith."

Until Tomorrow

fr. george