"Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully."
We need the LORD because we ourselves are paralyzed and suffering. Our physical bodies move, of course, but spiritually we just can't seem to live fully the call to selfless love. The things that draw us, the appeal to us, tend to pull in many different directions. We start one way, then go another, and then another, with the end result that we are unmoved. Yet we desire more. We suffer because we know we are meant for more. We need a new gravity of love that draws us the true good.
He said to him, "I will come and cure him."
Jesus has the power to strengthen our limbs and to give joy and peace to our hearts. He places his own Spirit within us. This animates and moves us just as Jesus himself moves at the will of the Father. The Spirit fills our hearts with peace because we perceive that we share in the love that the Father has for Jesus.
Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.
The intimate coming of Jesus is more than just under the same roof of a physical house. He wants to enter into the very depths of our souls. This actually should give us pause if we think about what is really going on in there. It is really more than we have any right to expect that God would want to dwell in our hearts. Without his word to give us confidence we ought not believe it. But we read that the plan is for Christ to "dwell in your hearts through faith". (see Ephesians 3:17). We confess we are not worthy, like the centurion, at every mass. Yet we receive him just the same. This is because it is more about his mercy than our deserving. It's true that a state of grace is necessary to receive the Sacrament. But we don't thereby earn or deserve it. The centurion's words are always true. They are included precisely to help us remember what a great blessing we receive.
Once we allow Jesus into our hearts we are changed. We are no longer immobile. We have the strength to seek him out.
Come, let us climb the LORD's mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
That he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths."
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Jesus is offering us strength for the advent journey toward Christmas. He wants to dwell in us and give us joy and strength for seeking his presence even more profoundly at Christmas than we have ever known it before.
Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
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