Will we ever be worthy to be receive Jesus?

[shadow102]

I have a friend that always says “Lord, I am not **YET ** worthy that You should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed” after the final elevation of the host at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

I talked to him about it and he said "I guess, but in heaven after I’ve been purged of all my sins and have been purified I will be worthy to receive Him, so it’s okay to say “not yet worthy.”

I didn’t have a response at the moment, but I just thought if we could be worthy of Jesus, then what was the point of the Cross? Then I though "well, maybe we will be worthy in a sense after purgatory, so it is permissible for him to say “not yet worthy”. I’m just confused on the subject.

Please help, thank you.

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

The prayer should be taken at its face value:

Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and I shall be healed.

Note that Jesus is the one who heals us of our unworthiness. Jesus truly makes us worthy to receive Him.

You can’t ask “what’s the point of the cross?” because it is the cross that grants us the grace to truly be healed.

He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised…So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.

• 2 Cor 5:15,17

Christ makes us a new creation and transforms us to be worthy of heaven. We cannot do so on our own, nor do we deserve it. However what God declares He will do, it is done (Isaiah 55:11).