A WORD OR TWO

             FROM FATHER ALEX

     Next week Jesus heals the paralyzed man. While he is preaching to a standing-room-only crowd, he sees four friends of the paralyzed man doing whatever they can to get the man through the crowd to reach Jesus. Their solution is to remove some of the roof so they can lower him down. This must have been difficult and time-consuming, but they seem to believe so strongly that Jesus can heal their friend, they will go to any lengths.

     The flat-out faith of the four friends must have been impressive, because the gospel tells us it says that Jesus, “seeing their faith”, speaks to the paralyzed man. “Son, your sins are forgiven.” This horrifies the religious leaders who observe this scene. Jesus knows they are there to catch him in some trap, but he is far ahead of them. He asks, “Why can you not figure this out? Is it easier for me to say ‘your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Get up and walk’?” He then relents and turns to the paralyzed man and says, “Get up, pick up your mat, and go.” In that moment, the man was healed both spiritually and physically.

     The Pharisees may be able to count the angles on the head of a pin, but they again missed the bigger picture of love. The four friends loved their paralyzed friend, and wanted a fuller, more abundant life for him. They saw overflowing love in the life of Jesus, so they picked up their friend and made every effort to reach Jesus.    

     Do we get up each day, aware that by our own faith, our words, and our actions, we can literally carry faith to the people around us? Or the opposite—that we can be a barrier, by our indifference, or by letting fear turn us from an opportunity? There is no neutral ground: we either “carry the faith” or “bury the faith.” Jesus shows us it is not enough simply to heal the outer paralysis. It is arguable that the religious leaders are actually the more paralyzed ones. They were “burying the faith” in a cold grave of indignation and anger. Unfortunately, those representing religion got preoccupied with a rigid rule of law, instead of reaching out to help the man get closer to Jesus.

     We treasure the Commandments and the laws of holy living, because they show us truth, and free us to become more like Jesus. But we have to guard against the times when our religious self sits in judgment, or we criticize someone, or we refuse to invite them to some gathering, because we do not like the way they think or act. Jesus is gathering all of us into the one Communion of Saints. We should let Jesus do the judging, while we keep watch that we are not using our convictions to push others out. We should keep this powerful picture in our minds. The paralyzed man could not physically reach out to help himself get to Jesus, so his friends reached out for him, and literally carried him there. This is a wonderful example of how we can “supply faith” for our sisters and brothers when they need it, or intercede for them in prayer. People are watching us carefully, just as the Pharisees watched Jesus. They want to see whether we just talk a holy game, or do we “walk the talk.” We can wonder what people see when they watch us. Do they see us carrying or burying?

                                                     Peace to all.

• < Prev
• Next >