A Homily for Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Thursday, September 19, 2024
Prince of Peace Catholic Church – 8:00 Mass
1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Psalm 118:1B-2, 16AB-17, 28; Luke 7:36-50
“Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”
When the priest elevates the consecrated host at Mass and we gaze upon our Lord at that moment, we repeat these words. They come from the words of the centurion in the first story of this chapter of Luke we are reading from today. In fact, the centurion’s words are connected to the sinful woman’s unspoken attitude toward Jesus in today’s Gospel, evidenced by her courageousness to enter Simon’s house and her actions of love toward Jesus as she anointed his feet with her tears and precious ointment.
Her actions cause Jesus to tell his host that this sinful woman, of whom many have believed to be Mary Magdalene, has shown him far more hospitality than has Simon the Pharisee. This caused me to reflect on whether or not I show Jesus good hospitality when he comes to my house, when I receive him at Mass under the appearance of bread and wine.
Allow me to share a reflection of St. Teresa of Avila regarding this. In this reflection she is speaking of herself in the third person, explaining that receiving the Eucharist is like having Jesus enter our house. This is taken from “The Way of Perfection.”
When she received Communion, this person … strove to strengthen her faith so that in receiving her Lord it was as if, with her bodily eyes, she saw him enter her house. Since she believed that this Lord truly entered her poor home, she freed herself from all exterior things.… She strove to recollect the senses so that all of them would take notice of so great a good.… She considered she was at his feet and wept with the Magdalene, no more nor less than if she were seeing him with her bodily eyes in the house of the Pharisee. And even though she didn’t feel devotion, faith told her that he was indeed there.… Receiving Communion is not like picturing with the imagination, as when we reflect upon the Lord on the cross … when we picture within ourselves how things happened to him in the past. In Communion the event is happening now, and it is entirely true. There’s no reason to go looking for him in some other place farther away.…
Now, then, if when he went about in the world the mere touch of his robes cured the sick, why doubt, if we have faith, that miracles will be worked while he is within us and that he will give what we ask of him, since he is in our house? His Majesty is not accustomed to paying poorly for his lodging if the hospitality is good.
My dear friends in Christ, when we receive the Eucharist are we truly aware of whom we are receiving? Are we like the centurion who didn’t consider himself worthy to have Jesus enter under his roof, or are we more like the Pharisee, who didn’t recognize Jesus for who he was, evidenced by his lack of hospitality when inviting him into his home for a meal? Do we humbly receive Jesus as did the sinful woman, or are we proud like the Pharisee, receiving him, perhaps, only to look good to others? Or, perhaps, not recognizing him for who he really is, the only begotten Son of God.
Today let’s reflect on the words of St. Teresa of Avila when we receive our Lord under our roofs today. Let’s have faith that he is truly present and that he enters within us when we receive him in Holy Communion. Let’s welcome him with humble hearts and true faith in his presence, knowing that he will give us what we ask of him since he is now in our house.
As St. Teresa said, His Majesty, Our Lord Jesus Christ, is not accustomed to paying poorly for his lodging if the hospitality is good.