In our Gospel today, Jesus meets a centurion whose servant is paralyzed and is suffering greatly. The centurion approaches Jesus in faith, being confident that Jesus can cure his servant. Right before we take communion in Mass, we echo the words that the centurion says to Jesus as Jesus tells him that he will come to his home and cure his servant: “Lord, I am worthy that you should enter under my roof.” We want to be healed by Jesus, we want to receive the Eucharist at Mass, but like the centurion in the Gospel today, we know that we are unworthy. The centurion comes to Jesus in humility and gratitude, not arrogance or pride.
This is a great message for us to hear in these first days of Advent. We are to come to the Lord in humility and gratitude as we prepare for the coming of the Lord. As we prepare for Christmas and as we eagerly await the coming of our Savior, we are to put our trust in the power of Jesus to heal us, to transform us, and to convert us. We should have confidence in the way that Jesus responds to the centurion’s request today in the Gospel. Jesus is eager to meet us in our sufferings, our challenges, and our infirmities. Jesus eagerly wants to help the centurion. Jesus is also eager to enter our lives in the Eucharist. Indeed, we are not worthy to receive Jesus our Lord and Savior, but he comes into our world in the midst of our sins and our defects to save us. Perhaps a good Advent devotion would be for us to come to daily mass more frequently this Advent season to receive the Eucharist and to hear God’s word. Perhaps we could ask ourselves the following questions during the start of the Advent season: How am I actively preparing to receive Jesus at Christmas? How am I being proactive in using these days of Advent as a time of preparation and waiting?
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