Intimacy and Reverence
One
Jairus and the Centurion
In the Gospel of Matthew, two men come up to Jesus at different times and ask His help for someone at home whom they love. One is Jairus, a son of Israel. The other is a centurion, a soldier of Rome.
They both have a similar request, someone they love is sick, and they ask Jesus to exercise His power of healing. But one of them, Jairus, says, “Quickly, come to my home.” And the other one says, “No, don’t come. It’s not right that you come to the home of an unworthy man like myself.”
Even though they both had different, actually, opposite, approaches, Jesus granted them both what they were asking. And they can both be an example to us.
Two
Jairus and Intimacy
Jairus, whose little girl is sick, actually, dying, begs Jesus to come into His home as quickly as possible.
Jairus represents the desire for intimacy with God. The saints beg Christ to come. They wish Christ to be a guest of their souls, to be familiar with everything that goes on there. The saints say, “Come quickly, Lord! I need healing, and what greater desire is there for anyone than that you should be our guest?”
So do we want that? Do we really want His company? Do we want His healing?
When you have a guest in your home, it can be a challenge. Certain guests have a habit of saying uncomfortable truths and certainly Jesus was that kind of person. But even if what He says or asks of us makes us uncomfortable, He is the only one who can heal us and save the people we love.
So how can we bring Him into our home?
Three
Intimacy by Invitation
The amazing thing about the Gospels is how many homes Jesus visited. It could be the homes of his committed disciples or it could be the homes of unconverted sinners. Maybe it was just the home of someone with a need, like Jairus. But all Jairus had to do was invite Christ into His home and Christ came.
So how do we invite Christ into our home? How do we cultivate intimacy with the Lord? By inviting Him and showing Him hospitality. We should be inviting all the time, “Jesus, come and live in my soul more completely. Please give me a greater desire for you.” And we should show the Lord hospitality by showing Him around our house.
Be honest with Him. Tell him what you feel and think and what you are afraid of and hope for and desire, your insecurities, your sins. He is your guest. When people come over to your house, you talk about them, and you talk about you. Do both with the Lord every day in prayer.
Do both especially when you receive Him in the Eucharist. Because then He really is, literally and physically, coming into your house – yourself.
So talk to Him in those fifteen minutes after communion. You’ve invited Him, and He has come. Now show Him hospitality, and the two of you will grow in intimacy. He will work His miracle of Healing, as he did for Jairus’ daughter.
Four
The Centurion and Reverence
The centurion had someone sick at home too, but when Jesus offered to come, the centurion stopped him. He said, “No. I’m not worthy that you should enter under my roof.”
The centurion knew that his own sinfulness, his own unworthiness, wasn’t enough to stop Jesus’ power. He knew the kind of power Jesus had.
The centurion had the authority to get things done long-distance by means of subordinates. He knew that Jesus had the power to get things done long-distance by means of the angels or just His own immediate and infinite divine power.
We read that Jesus was amazed. He exclaimed that never had he found faith like the centurion’s anywhere in Israel.
The centurion’s reverence, his understanding of his own littleness and of Jesus’ greatness gained him not only the healing he had wanted but immeasurably more, a compliment from the Incarnate God Himself.
If we would have our hearts’ desire not only healing but the unexpected approval of God Himself, we must cultivate the same reverence as the Centurion.
We must know our own littleness and God’s greatness. And at Mass, when it’s time for communion, and we say the centurion’s words, “Lord I am not worthy to receive you.,” if it’s more appropriate that we not receive until we’ve gone to confession, then we must have faith that God can heal us from afar. That’s what will please Jesus the most.
Five
Intimacy and Reverence go Together
A lot of people think that intimacy and reverence don’t go together.
There’s that phrase, familiarity breeds contempt. But remember, familiarity isn’t intimacy. Familiarity is taking someone for granted so that you can’t even see them anymore.
A lot of people – a lot of us – are too familiar with the Lord. We take Him for granted. We don’t work to get close to Him. And often that familiarity is expressed in irreverence in our speech, in our thoughts, and in the way we receive the Eucharist. But when you really get close to somebody, and you work to stay close to them, you don’t take them for granted.
You are continually surprised by how good they are. That only ever deepens your respect and appreciation.
So too with the Lord. The Seraphim are the angels who are the closest to God’s presence, and Isaiah saw them covering their eyes and singing praises. The saints who know and love God best are also the ones who treat Him with the greatest reverence. The intimacy of Jairus and the reverence of the Centurion were both rewarded. It is, in fact, our reverence that will make us grow more intimate with Jesus, and our intimacy with Jesus will increase our reverence. So let’s resolve to pursue both.