Readings: 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Psalm 28; Lk 7:1-10). “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore, I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word and let my servant be healed.” Lk 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 whose response was to express amazement at the centurion’s faith. Jesus said to the crowd with Him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” At that point, the servant was healed by Jesus from a distance.
Often, if we have an important request to make of another, we do so in person. We go to the person face-to-face. 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, about asking for the intercession of the saints.
Seeking the intercession of the saints is not done because we are afraid of our Lord or because He would be offended by us going directly to Him. It is done as an act of the utmost humility. By entrusting our prayer to those who are in Heaven, we entrust our prayer to God. Relying on 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? 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 who are our examples and true followers of Him.