I am Not Worthy to Receive You

Following the Sign of Peace, we come to the Lamb of God.  The words said by the priest, “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world,” come directly from John 1:29.  John the Baptist proclaims Jesus to be “The Lamb of God.”  He is the new Passover lamb.  In sacrificing his life for us, He becomes the lamb by which our sins are forgiven.

We respond, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”  The Catholic Church does not make these words up.  In this case, the words we say come from Matthew 8:8 and Luke 7:6-7.  Here we stand risen, made worthy by the sacrifice of Jesus.  We know Jesus can heal us of our sins.

(The previous articles in this series can be found on my website at https://renewaloffaith.org/bulletin-series-on-the-mass-2023/)