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7TH
Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 22, 2009 Year: B
Is. 43:18-19, 20-22, 24-25; 2 Cor. 1:18-22; Mk. 2:1-12
The forgiveness of sins
First Reading...
"The Lord said: 'Do not
remember the former things, or consider the things of
old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth,
do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the
wilderness and rivers in the desert.'
'I will give drink to my chosen people, the people whom
I formed for myself so that they might declare my
praise.'
'Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have
been weary of me, O Isreal! You have burdened me with
your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.
"I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own
sake, and I will not remember you sins." [Is. 43:18-9,
20b-2, 24b-5]
Second Reading...
"As surely as God is faithful,
our word to you has not been "Yes and No." For the Son
of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you,
Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not "Yes and No"; but in
him it always "Yes."
For in him every one of God's promises is a "Yes." For
this reason it is through him that we say the "Amen," to
the glory of God. But it is God who establishes us with
you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal
on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first
instalment." [2 Cor. 1:18-22]
Gospel Reading...
"When Jesus returned to
Capernaum, it was reported that he was at home. So many
gathered around that there was no longer room for them,
not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the
word to them.
Then some people came, bringing to Jesus a paralysed
man, carried by four of them. And when they could not
bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed
the roof above him; and after having dug through it,
they let down the mat on which the paralysed man lay.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to
the man, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.' Now some of the
scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,
'Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is
blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?'
At once Jesus perceived in his spirit
that they were discussing these questions among
themselves; and he said to them, 'Why do you raise such
questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the
paralysed man, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say,
'Stand up and take your mat and walk?' But so that you
may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to
forgive sins' - he said to the man who was paralysed -
'I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your
home.'
And he stood up, and immediately took the
mat and went out before all of them; so that they were
all amazed and glorified God, saying, 'We have never
seen anything like this!'"[Mk. 2:1-12]
INCIDENT:
When I visited a family recently, I met the father of a
young man who is an alcoholic. I asked the father about
his son’s present condition. He replied me saying that
he feels compassion for him. He loves him immensely and
even makes great sacrifices to go with him to
rehabilitation centre and spend time with him. During my
conversation he began shedding tears of real agony. But
at the end he said that he is ready to die for his son.
He is ready to go to any extent to see his son leave
alcohol. Sense of forgiveness and challenge to get his
son out of danger of alcohol is the sole aim of the
father.
Mary Augustine of our parish has been
suffering due to her two sons’ kidney troubles that have
reduced her life to nothing. She runs pillar to post to
collect money for the treatment of her two sons. She has
never given up her attempt to help her sons since 7
years. She herself is sick with tuberculosis and works
in homes and earns for her and her sons living and
treatment. What a pitiable condition! We tried to get
her some support through contributions from our own
parish, but it seems that it is a pitiable, pathetic
continuing story. The determined mother never gives up
her attempts to help her sons.
When we look at such cases our heart
melts and we find it difficult to digest such sufferings
of humanity.
CONFLIC IN THIS GOSPEL
The Gospel passage today revolves around the healing of
the paralytic man. There is a conflict and the end is
the healing.
Cause
of the conflict:
Forgiveness of
sins
To eat with sinners
The practice of fasting
Observance of Saturday
To cure on Saturday
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The
solidarity of the friends obtains for the paralytic
the forgiveness of sins. Jesus is returning to
Capernaum. Many people gather before the door of the
house. He accepts everybody and begins to teach them.
To teach, to speak of God, was what Jesus did the
most. A paralytic, carried by four persons, arrived.
Jesus is their only hope. They do not doubt to go up
and make an opening in the roof over the place where
Jesus was. It must have been a poor house, the roof,
mud covered with leaves. They lowered the stretcher
with the man, before Jesus. Jesus, seeing their faith,
says to the paralytic: seeing their faith, says to the
paralytic: your sins are forgiven you. At that time
people thought that physical defects (paralytic) were
a punishment from God for any sin that had been
committed. The Doctors of the Law taught that the
person remained impure and therefore, incapable of
getting close to God. For this reason, the sick, the
poor, the paralytics, felt that they were rejected by
God! But Jesus did not think this way. Such a great
faith, was an evident sign of the fact that the
paralytic was accepted by God. And for this reason, he
declares: “Your sins are forgiven you!” With this
affirmation Jesus denies that the paralysis was a
punishment due to the sin of the man.
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Jesus is accused of blasphemy by those who held power.
The affirmation of Jesus was contrary to the catechism
of the time. It was not in accordance with the idea
that they had of God. And because of this they react
against and accuse Jesus: he blasphemes! According to
them only God could forgive sins. And only the priest
could declare someone forgiven and purified. How could
it be that Jesus, a man without studies, a lay person,
a simple carpenter, could declare persons forgiven and
purified of their sins? And there was also another
reason which pushed them to criticize Jesus. They had
thought: “If it is true what Jesus says, we will lose
our power! We will lose our source of income”.
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By
curing, Jesus shows that he also has the power to
forgive sins. Jesus perceives the criticism. This is
why he asks: “Which of these is easier to say to the
paralytic: Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Get
up, pick up your stretcher and walk!? It is easier to
say: “Your sins are forgiven you”. Because nobody can
verify if truly the sins have been forgiven or not.
But if I tell him: “Get up and walk!”, there, all can
see if I have or not the power to heal. And in order
to show that he had the power to forgive sins, in the
name of God, Jesus says to the paralytic: Get up, take
up your stretcher and go off home! He cures the man!
And thus, through a miracle he taught that the
paralysis of the man was not a punishment from God,
and he showed that the faith of the poor is a proof
that God accepts them in his love.
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The
message of the miracle and the reaction of people. The
paralytic gets up, he takes his stretcher, and begins
to walk, and all say: “We have never seen anything
like this!” This miracle reveals three very important
things: a) The sicknesses of persons are not a
punishment for sins. b) Jesus opens a new way
to reach God. What the system called impurity was no
more an obstacle for persons to get close to God.
c) The face of God revealed through the attitude
of Jesus was different from the severe face of God
revealed by the attitude of the Doctors.
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This
reminds us of what a drug addict said once: “I grew up
in the Catholic religion. I abandoned it. My parents
were good practicing Catholics and wanted us, their
children to be like them. People were obliged always
to go to Church, every Sunday and every feast day. And
when one did not go, they would say: “God will punish
you”. I went because this was imposed upon me, and
when I became an adult, I no longer went to Mass. I
did not like the God of my parents. I could not
understand that God, the Creator of the world, could
extend over me, a small child, threatening me with the
punishment of hell. I liked much more the God of my
uncle who never went to Church, but who every day, and
I repeat, every day, bought twice as much bread than
what he ate, in order to give to the poor!”.
Summarizing today's readings, they
affirm to us that we received our forgiveness of sins
by faith in Christ. We are called to believe in the
fulfillment of the promises of the Heavenly Father
that when we receive absolution from the priest during
the Sacrament of Reconciliation, truly, God no longer
remembers our sins. Through our faith, accompanied by
the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God reinstates the
righteousness that we previously enjoyed through the
Sacrament of Baptism so that we may partake in the
Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist to receive our
inheritance as children of God, our salvation in
preparation for the final instalment that is to come
at the resurrection of our bodies.
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