Blessed be the Lord, for He has Heard My Prayer

Today's Mass Readings

In today’s first reading from St. Paul’s Letter to Timothy, we find the apostle Paul’s exhortation: “I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone.” Notice he said for EVERYONE. That includes, everyone, no one is excluded from these supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings. We must offer them for everyone. St. Paul specifically singles out one group, however, to emphasize who we should offer supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings for: “for kings and for all in authority.” Why would St. Paul want us to pray for kings and for all in authority? Could we not be ruled by bad kings and be under those in authority who are also bad? Why would St. Paul ask for such prayers? He tells us why: “… that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity.”

Indeed, in today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke, we see who is the ultimate authority that we must obey: Jesus. We find a Roman centurion, a soldier and a leader, paying homage to Jesus. At the end of the Gospel of Mark, it is likewise a Roman soldier who, seeing the manner of Jesus’ death, exclaims, “truly this was the Son of God.”

In today’s Gospel passage, the centurion needs a slave healed, since the slave was on his deathbed. Jesus starts to go with the centurion to help him, but the centurion says, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed.” This is the the origin of the phrase we say at every Mass; usually we recite it in English as, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.” For an outside observer, who knew nothing about Jesus, this scene would look backwards. It should be the peasant Jesus who does not appear worthy to enter under the roof of the prestigious Roman centurion. But it is to Jesus that every knee must bend, on heaven, on earth, and under the earth. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the ultimate authority, and we must pray for all other authorities, so that we may lead lives of devotion to Jesus.

We must pray so that we those in authority over us may not prevent us from offering the devotion we desire and must offer to the one Lord of all. Many Catholics today around the globe in places like Sudan, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, are hindered from worshipping God freely, without threat of violence. Let us pray for our brothers and sisters across the globe, wherever they may be, that they like us may offer worship to God without hindrance.