Lord, I Am Not Worthy

The Gospel from today's Mass contains a really amazing story - the Centurion who asks Christ to cure his sick servant. It is really a story filled with surprises, beginning with the fact that this elite soldier approaches a Jew to ask for help. And, while it might be more understandable if he was asking help for his wife or child, he asks Jesus to cure his servant. A Roman soldier asking a Jewish rabbi to cure his servant who was probably also a Jew! And he does not command that Jesus help, but rather treats him with an amazing respect, acknowledging the power that belongs to Jesus.
Even when Jesus volunteers to go to his house, the Centurion does not want to bother the Lord, but calls himself "unworthy" of such a visit. I wonder what his fellow officers would have thought had they heard this!
It got me to thinking of how we sometimes approach the Lord. Most of us fall into that original sin from time to time - wanting to have God's power. Honestly, have you ever thought "If I could be God just for five minutes, I could really straighten things out". As if!!!
True faith is always tempered by humility, which is the acknowledgment of who we are. Only when we see ourselves - our needs, our desires, our position in the scheme of things - in proper relationship to God can we hope to begin to understand the immense love He has for us... and the immense patience.