BIBLE READINGS:
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
Before
I go to bed, I help myself to a little “serving” from the book series,
Chicken Soup for the Soul, a collection of inspirational stories to
open the heart and rekindle the Spirit. Here is an excerpt from that collection
which can help us understand better the Word of God proclaimed in today’s Sunday
liturgy. Narrated by Hal
Manwaring, the story tells us how he discovered his own need for inner healing
(cf. Hal Manwaring, "Fourteen Steps" in A 3rd
Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Deerfield Beach: Health
Communications, Inc., 1996, p. 264-267).
 |
I became afflicted with a slowly progressive disease of the motor nerves, affecting first my right arm and leg, and then my other side … In spite of my disease I still drove to and from work each day, with the aid of special equipment installed in my car … As I became older, I became more disillusioned and frustrated. I’m sure that my wife and friends had some unhappy times when I chose to expound to them my philosophy of life. I believed that in this whole world I alone had been chosen to suffer … |
|
|
On a dark night in August 1971, gusty winds and slashing rain beat down on the car as I drove slowly down one of the less-traveled roads. Suddenly the steering wheel jerked in my hands and the car swerved violently to the right. In the same instant I heard the dreaded bang of a blowout … It was impossible for me to change that tire! Utterly impossible! … Then I remembered that a short distance up a little side road was a house. I started the engine and thumped slowly along … Lighted windows welcomed me to the house and I pulled into the driveway and honked the horn … The door opened and a little girl stood there, peering at me. I rolled down the window and called out that I had a flat and needed someone to change it for me because I had a crutch and couldn’t do it myself. She went into the house and a moment later came out bundled in a raincoat and hat, followed by a man who called a cheerful greeting. I sat there comfortable and dry, and felt a bit sorry for the man and the little girl working so hard in the storm. Well, I would pay them for it … It seemed to me that they were awfully slow and I was beginning to become impatient … Then they were standing at my car window. He was an old man, stooped and frail looking under his slicker. The little girl was about eight or 10 I judged, with a merry face and a wide smile as she looked up at me. He said, “This is a bad night for car trouble, but you’re all set now.” “Thanks,” I said, “thanks. How much do I owe you?” He shook his head. “Nothing. Cynthia told me you were a cripple – on crutches. Glad to be of help. I know you’d do the same for me. There’s no charge, friend.” I held out a five-dollar bill. “No! I like to pay my way.” He made no effort to take it and the little girl stepped closer to the window and said quietly, “Grandpa can’t see it.” |
|
|
In the next few frozen seconds the shame and horror of that moment penetrated, and I was sick with an intensity I had never felt before. A blind man and a child! … They changed a tire for me – changed it in the rain and wind, with me sitting in snug comfort in the car with my crutch. My handicap. I don’t remember how long I sat there after they said good night and left me, but it was long enough for me to search deep within myself and find some disturbing traits. I realized that I was filled to overflowing with self-pity, selfishness, indifference to the needs of others and thoughtlessness. I sat there and said a prayer. In humility I prayed for strength, for a greater understanding, for keener awareness of my shortcomings and for faith to continue asking in daily prayer for spiritual help to overcome them. |
Here we have the personal account of a crippled man who discovered that his need for inner healing is greater than that of physical healing. Indeed, there is more to it than physical malady. There is more to it than physical cure. Jesus Christ, who embodies the Reign of God, shows that the Kingdom of wholeness involves more than just physical healing. The messianic ministry of Jesus, the Healer, includes the liberation of human beings from the bondage of sin. The Kingdom of wholeness includes the forgiveness of sins.
The Gospel account of the healing of a paralytic is the first of the controversy stories (cf. Mk 2:1-3:6) depicted by the evangelist Mark. In this narrative, Mark highlights a very important aspect in the saving ministry of Jesus: his power to forgive sins. When Jesus saw the enterprising faith of the four men who brought the paralytic to him through the crowd, by making a hole on the roof of the house where they lowered down the paralytic’s mat, he spoke one of the most powerful words of healing ever recorded in the New Testament: “Child, your sins are forgiven.” Jesus used a term of endearment, “Child,” in addressing the man in need of healing. In forgiving the person’s sins, the healing Lord was carrying out the compassionate act of healing at its most profound level. In this Gospel episode, Jesus was healing the debilitating effect of sin in one of God’s “injured” children. Indeed, real sin hurts because it has a compulsive effect to it. We seem to be “caught in it” like an illness that weakens us and keeps us in pain. But the compassionate Lord never leaves us when we sin. He is always there to heal our hearts and strengthen our feeble will. Indeed, Christ is the “healing Physician” whose compassionate word of forgiveness heals our brokenness, frees us from compulsion, gives us new life and strengthens the moral fibers of our soul.
The evangelist Mark situates Jesus’ compassionate act of forgiveness in a context of a hostile environment in which the scribes silently contested his authority to forgive sins. They were thinking to themselves: “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?” Indeed, several Old Testament passages, including the first reading of this Sunday’s liturgy, underline the truth that forgiveness comes from God alone. In Is 43:25, for example, we hear God asserting: “It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake your offenses; your sins I remember no more.” In the midst of the hostile skepticism that Jesus had power to forgive sin, the healing Lord applied to himself the title “Son of Man”. Claiming for himself the divine authority to forgive sins, he confronted the contentious scribes with a tremendous sign: the physical healing of the paralytic. “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth” – he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.”
Mark’s narrative does not intend to support the belief that there is a causal relationship between sin and illness. The thrust of his story is to underline that Jesus embodies the Reign of God in his teaching, his healing, and his liberation of human beings from bondage to sin. In the gift of forgiveness brought by Jesus is the tender love of the Father who promised to do “something new” (cf. Is 43:19) for his people. In the physical cure of the paralytic, who also experienced inner healing, is a “sign” to encourage the Church that the primary reality for Christians is not human suffering and sin, but God’s healing love and the forgiveness of sin. Indeed, central to the messianic ministry of Jesus is his call to repentance and reconciliation, which he reinforced with compassionate acts of physical and inner healing.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
|
|
A. Do we realize that a situation of sin is an illness that weakens, paralyzes and imprisons us in pain? |
|
|
B. Do we realize that being reconciled with God entails true healing? |
|
|
C. How do we respond to God’s compassionate act, “Child, your sins are forgiven”? |
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
|
|
Leader: Lord, our sinful hearts are broken and we are in pain. But we believe, O Christ, that you are the “healing Physician”. Heal our hearts and make us turn back to you. Take away the “paralysis” that results from our sins. Strengthen our will and fill us with the strength of new life. May your healing hand and word of forgiveness be the source of joy for God’s injured children.
|
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“Child, your sins are forgiven.” (Mk 2:6)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
|
|
A. ACTION PLAN: Compose a prayer based on the following text taken from the Rite of Penance, n. 99: “Where sin has brought weakness, may your power heal and strengthen.” |
|
|
B. ACTION PLAN: Extend God’s gift of forgiveness to a person who has offended you. |
Prepared by: Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang, PDDM
