Word to the Wise
Sunday, February 22, 2009 - Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Isaiah 43:18-19, 21-22, 24B-25; 2 Corinthians 1:18-22; Mark 2:1-12]"Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, pick up your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth" - he said to the paralytic, "I saw to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home."
Whenever one of us gets sick, we become aware of two things. The first is the disease or condition itself (virus, infection, broken bone) which requires medical treatment. The second is the "illness" which means the social impact of the condition. We may be told to stay home or avoid other personal relational behavior lest we "give" the virus to someone else. Or we may be restricted in our movements because we have a cast on our leg or arm and cannot drive, or need to someone to push a wheelchair! Medical treatment may "cure" the particular physical (or psychological) condition, but the process of restoration, the healing, is another matter. We may find ourselves afraid of certain activities or locations. Our families and friends may feel awkward about discussing the matter or careful about inviting us to do this or that. Isolation is very much a part of the suffering of disease. This distinction is important for an understanding of what Jesus does for the paralytic in the gospel scripture today (and in other "healing" miracles in the gospels). The first thing that Jesus does is to "heal" the man by addressing him as "Child, your sins are forgiven." This is restoration! But things do not end there. The reaction of the scribes leads Jesus to show that healing and curing are part of one process: "I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home." The man is cured but he is also healed because he is told to go home. He is restored to social life. Our tendency to view "sin" as individual actions by individual persons which are mentioned only in the secrecy of the confessional ignores the wider social meaning of sin. We may not even be aware of the suffering we may cause by our reaction to another person's troubles! How many of us are willing like the litter-bearers to accompany someone and bring them to healing and not just to the hospital? I become aware of this often in my ministry at the sisters' infirmary here. The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick shows the care of the Lord and the Community for the one who is suffering, whether it be from a medical condition or simply the increasing sense of isolation that old age seems to bring when all one's friends and family of the same generation are beginning to reach the end of their lives and dying. Today's gospel reminds us that what Jesus does for the paralytic does not stop there. We have to follow through! AMEN
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