“Lord, I am not worthy. . .”

We say these words at every mass, but what do they mean? This prayer comes after the words of
the priest, “Behold the Lamb of God, and behold Him who takes away the sins of the world….”
These words are calling each person in the congregation to wake up (hopefully not from actual
sleep, but perhaps a spiritual sleepiness) to acknowledge the unparalleled miracle in which we are
about to partake. Behold! Look who is in our midst! The priest beckons us to see, not just with
our eyes but with our hearts that we are witnessing a sacrament in which not everyone is blessed to
participate. But we have been called uniquely by God himself to gather around his table. At this
time, each person is invited to vocalize for himself or herself the intentionality of his or her own
participation. In the fabric of this prayer, “Lord, I am not worthy . . . but only say the word and my
soul shall be healed”, is a sense of peace and an urge to return to the heart of what it means to be
Christian. I am reminded of the supremacy of God when I admit my unworthiness to be in his
presence. I did nothing to deserve the saving love of Christ, and this line of the Eucharistic Prayer
is for me an acknowledgement of the gift of Jesus’ sacrifice. Through faith and dependence on his
Word, his mercy, I shall receive the peace that can only come through Christ, and “my soul shall be
healed”.
When we speak the words “that you should enter under my roof”, in what form are we imagining
God entering under our roof? Does God come in spirit to fill our hearts? Does he walk through
the door and desire to know our flawed, human selves? I would say yes and yes; God enters under
the roof as Christ, to be eaten in the form of the Eucharist so that he may live within us and know
us deeply. Yet the strength of the Eucharist does not stop with a personal relationship with Jesus
within us. Rather, we are called to spread the light of Christ to the world, considering it a privilege
to serve him and know him. May our strength and hope come from God’s mercy even when we feel
unworthy of his love. May we be reminded of his physical presence in the people who enter under
our roofs today, and be filled with a sense of awe and wonder that our God knows what it is to be
human.