"But Mass is so boring!" Part 5

“Lord, I am unworthy to receive you…”

This isn’t S&M. This is the frank admission of what is really true in our lives: that the difficulties, challenges, and trials we face – the ones for which we cried out “Lord, have mercy!” – are greater than we can resolve on our own. We are also admitting that our choices and habits that exclude the Lord can bring us no hope.

Remember: we cried out, “Lord, have mercy!” because we can’t face and overcome certain realities in our lives without outside help – and specifically without God’s help. This is a statement of reality and of faith!

More than that, we are admitting that often enough we act as though we can solve these problems ourselves, or we try to solve them without turning to God. This can only lead to failure. So, recognizing these futile attempts and the magnitude of the problems we face, we admit that “Lord, I am unworthy to receive you…”

“…but only say the word, and I shall be healed!” We affirm that his Real Presence will heal us and give us hope. We need to be healed of worry, of doubt in His existence and love for us, of fear of failure and defeat, of the hurts of the past that grow like weeds in our hearts and clog our present. As we ask in faith – as individual human beings living in a concrete reality in this time and place – the Lord engages yet more deeply with us.

You may ask: will I feel this healing? Will I see these changes in my life? Yes, but, remember, this isn’t magic. It isn’t the Lord waving a wand. It is the power of love being reborn in the depths of our being. It is the rebirth of hope, courage, and the will to live. It will grow over time as we nurture this new growth by returning repeatedly to the Eucharist – to the Lord in the Eucharist.