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“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.” Luke
7:6–7
What’s interesting is that these humble words, spoken by a Roman
centurion, were not actually spoken by the centurion to Jesus. This
is because the centurion did not believe he was even worthy of
going to Jesus himself. Therefore, he sent some of his friends to
speak these words to Jesus on his behalf. In a real way, the
friends of this centurion acted as intercessors before Jesus.
Jesus’ response was to express amazement at the centurion’s faith.
Jesus said to the crowd who was with Him, “I tell you, not even in
Israel have I found such faith.” And at that point, the servant was
healed by Jesus from a distance.
Most of the time, if we have an important request to make of
another, we do so in person. We go to the person and speak
face-to-face. And though we certainly can go to our Lord in prayer,
face-to-face, person to Person, there is something very humble
about bringing our needs to our Lord through the intercession of
another. Specifically, there is something very humble about asking
for the intercession of the saints.
Seeking the intercession of the saints before our Lord is not done
because we are afraid of our Lord or because He would be offended
by us going directly to Him. It is ideally done as an act of the
utmost humility. By entrusting our prayer to those who are in
Heaven, gazing upon the face of God, we do entrust our prayer to
God. But relying upon the intercession of the saints is also a way
of acknowledging that we are not worthy, by our own merits, to
stand before the Lord and bring Him our request. This humility can
be difficult to understand at times, but it’s important to
try.
What is it that you need to pray for in your life right now? As you
call that to mind, pick a saint to act as your friend and
intercessor before God. Turn to that saint in humility and say a
prayer to that saint, admitting that you are not worthy of going to
our Lord on your own. Then entrust your petition to that saint and
ask him or her to present that prayer to our Lord on your behalf.
Praying to our Lord, through the intercession of a saint, is a way
of also saying that you know Jesus’ response to you is pure mercy
on His part. And the good news is that Jesus deeply desires to
shower His mercy when we humble ourselves before Him, especially by
coming to Him through the mediation of the saints.
Reflect, today, upon the humility of this well-respected Roman
centurion. Try to understand the power of his humble approach by
which he sent his friends to Jesus on his behalf. As you do, pick a
saint in Heaven and ask them to go to our Lord on your behalf and
request that our Lord grant you the same humility and faith as this
centurion. Doing so will lead our Lord to be amazed at your faith
and humility also.
Saints of God, please offer to Jesus my humble request that I
grow more in humility and faith. My precious Lord, I do bring this
and all my prayers to You. As I do, I acknowledge that I am not
worthy of Your Divine Mercy. But through the mediation of the
saints in Heaven, if it be Your will that You bestow Your mercy
upon me, then I humbly make this request of You through them.
Mother Mary, I especially entrust all my prayers to Your holy
intercession. Jesus, I trust in You.
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Featured image above: Jesus and the Centurion by Paolo
Veronese, via Wikimedia Commons
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