NOT WORTHY

Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles

Mt14:22-23

Today we remember the dedication of two of the four major basilicas of the Catholic Church. St. Peter’s Basilica, the present residence of the pope, is located at the Vatican while the Basilica of St. Paul is in the Ostian Way. Both completed in the 4th century, the dedication of these two basilicas were already annually celebrated as early as the 12th century. They were both built atop the tomb of the two great apostles after whom they were named: St. Peter’s Basilica over the tomb of St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, and the Basilica of St. Paul on top of the tomb of St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Peter and Paul are the two greatest apostles of the Lord. The credit, however, is not theirs, but the Lord’s. Peter expressed it very well when he said once to Jesus, “Depart from me, Lord; I am a sinful man.” Just like the rest of us, both Peter and Paul, and all the other apostles for that matter, were sinners. They were not worthy of the Lord, but the love of the Lord made them worthy anyway. Had they not welcomed the love of the Lord, they would have not been great apostles.

There are times when the feeling of unworthiness overwhelms us so much so that we refuse, or at least hesitate, to answer the call of the Lord. If we want to be worthy first before answering the call of the Lord, then we will never answer His call. We cannot and will never be worthy. I heard this lesson for the first time from the lady I once loved and loved me in return. When I wanted to go back to the seminar to pursue my priestly studies, I confided to her the greatest of my difficulties: I felt I was not worthy to become a priest anymore. As we were inside the car and she was driving, she pulled over, stopped the engine, looked straight to my eyes, and said, “You are a proud man!” I asked her why she thought I was a proud man. Her reply was straight, simple, and true: “You want to be worthy first before you say ‘yes’ to God. You will never answer His call at all because no one is worthy anyway.” I was taken aback by such wisdom; my mind was opened and so did my heart follow. I returned to the seminary and became a priest ten years after.

Not worthy? Who is?