LORD, I AM NOT WORTHY

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Holy Mass is an occasion to meet our Lord  in person,  worship him, and to  receive him in Communion.  Just before Communion, the priest explains   how great a gift God has sent through  his  hands. ‘Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called  to the Supper of the Lamb’. It is an invitation  to partake in the  body and  blood of our Savior.  So the natural response should have been  a word of gratitude. But instead, 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 borrowed these words from the Centurion, who  counted himself unworthy to  receive Jesus into his  house, but at the same time was  confident that  just a word from the Lord was sufficient to  heal his servant [Lk 7:6:7]. The Centurion was  aware of his unworthiness.

Prophet Isaiah’s words  best capture the  depths of  unworthiness  a man  feels when he is  confronted with the  presence of God. “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of  unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”[Isa 6:5].

At Horeb, the mountain of God, Moses was afraid to look at  God  [Ex 3:6]. Daniel could not  withstand the  glory of  God’s presence. His ‘strength left him, and his  complexion grew deathly pale, and he retained no strength’ after that vision [Dan 10:8].

Moses, Isaiah and Daniel were afraid, but we are  least afraid to  approach the  Lord who is  truly present in the  Holy Eucharist. What makes us  worthy to  receive it? 

Though he has elaborated on the  theme of Jesus  as the  bread of life [Jn ch.6] John   does not specify the pre qualifications required to receive the true bread  of life. But  Jesus himself has once stated that we should go through a process of washing  before  taking part in his  supper. ‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me’ [Jn 13:8]. The  primary purpose of  receiving  Communion is to unite with the Lord in spirit. ‘Anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him’ [1 Cor 6:17].

Jesus sits at the confessional to wash us. But we are in a hurry and simply bypass him forgetting that it is the same Jesus who is  waiting for us  at the altar. If we approach the altar unwashed, we cannot expect to have any share with Jesus. There is only one person who teaches  that confession and  repentance are not required to receive Communion, and unfortunately he is the biggest liar  and  in fact the  father of all lies. His first victim was Judas who stepped into the darkness outside immediately after  receiving the  first Communion which  for him was  just a  piece of bread.

The  Holy Eucharist that we receive in an unworthy state will  pave the  way for  Satan to enter into our life  and separate us from the  eternal  light of Jesus. Paul elaborates; ‘Whoever, therefore, eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the  Lord. Examine yourselves, and only  then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves’  [1 Cor 11: 27-29]. 

The Church is aware of the grave  damages an unworthy  reception of the Holy Euchaarist would bring to the faithful, and therefore, constantly reminds them of the need to  have the  proper disposition by way of   a good confession. ‘Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance’ [CCC 1415].

Jesus said it, Paul reminded and the Church instructed us; but we fail to pay heed and continue receiving the Communion in an unworthy manner!  Empty confessionals in  our churches are  a danger sign. And if people throng to  receive Communion without Jesus  having  washed them in the sacrament of penance is  an alarming  symbol. The symbol of a  generation that has turned so foolish as to   knowingly   accept their own judgment!

Once Jesus lamented about Judas; ‘It would have been better for that  one  not to have been born’[Mt 26:24]. Today Jesus laments; ‘It would have been better for them not to have received my body and blood’.

Today the  biggest challenge the Church faces is to  bring back those  who do not appreciate the value of the sacrament of penance. Let us pray for God’s mercy to shower upon them so that  their hearts are opened to  true repentance and they be  blessed with the  grace to receive the Lord in a worthy manner.

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