Fervent Prayer of Faith

~~~ Lamentations 2:2, 10-14, 18-19 ~~~ Psalm 74 ~~~ Matthew 8: 5-17 ~~~

We have permission to cry out to the Lord. We are encouraged to pour out our heart before the Lord. In our tears are often carried the most fervent of prayers. Prayers with tears are most certainly pouring out from the heart. God wants our heart felt prayers. they are more precious to him than our mindless rote prayers.

"...Worn out from weeping are my eyes...

...Cry out to the Lord...

...Pour out your heart like water
in the presence of the Lord;
Lift up your hands to him..."

In today's Gospel we hear the source for the verse we say right before receiving Eucharist during every Mass. This is a slight change from what we said for many years, but the meaning remained the same.

When Jesus entered Capernaum,
a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,
"Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully."
He said to him, "I will come and cure him."
The centurion said in reply,
"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.

The centurion did not feel that he was worthy for Jesus to actually visit his home. He believed that just he words of healing would indeed cure his suffering servant.

Jesus wants to come to our house...it is in our heart.

Eucharist is the healing of Jesus entering under our roof...the roof of our heart.

"Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.

How would God rate your faith?

I hope you will think about this Gospel scene next time you are attending Mass and it comes time to speak the line of not being worthy.

Now it will make much more sense; at least it does to me.

Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and we a certainly not worthy to have Jesus enter into our bodies...but he does...and he comes in to heal us as well.