Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Mary’s of the Lake: 

At every Mass before we approach the Table of the Lord for Holy Communion, we hear or recite two important phrases  --both sound so different from our daily conversations. Nevertheless, these 2 phrases have the base in the Bible:

 ① The First Phrase is what the priest proclaims while raising the Holy Body (& Precious Blood) of the Lord, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.’ From the Book of Revelation (Rev. 5: 6) we read:  ‘Then I saw standing in the midst of the throne and the 4 living creatures and the elders a Lamb that seemed to have been slained. He had seven horns and seven eyes…’ –i.e. a symbolic way to indicate that He had the fullness of power and knowledge. Toward the end of the Book (Rev 19: 9) the angel said: ‘Write this: Blessed are those who have been called to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb!’ At each liturgical celebration we are indeed so very blessed to be called to the Eucharistic Banquet, or the Supper of the Lamb. We are indeed loved. We are honored. We are blessed; for ‘Blessed are those called to the Supper of the Lamb!’ 
② The second phrase is our response to what the priest proclaims --.i.e. ‘Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed.’ This phrase reflects the humility and trust of the Roman centurion in the gospels (see Matt 8:8 or Lk 7:6-7), who asked Jesus to heal his servant who was at home, paralyzed and in distress. In Matthew 8: 5-8 we read, ‘When he entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.”  As a Gentile, outside of God’s covenant, and a Roman officer in charge of soldiers who were oppressing God’s people, this centurion humbly acknowledged, that he was not worthy to have Jesus come under his roof. Yet he expressed a great faith that surpassed that of many others and amazed even Jesus. Like the centurion, we are called to recognize our unworthiness to have Jesus come sacramentally under the roofs of our souls. Yet just as the centurion believed Jesus was able to heal his servant, so do we trust that Jesus can heal us as He becomes the most intimate guest of our souls in the Holy Eucharist.

Fr. Philip