Word to the Wise
Friday, January 13, 2012 - Friday in the 1st Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Sam 8:4-7, 10-22a and Mark 2:1-12]They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him, "Child, your sins are forgiven."
There is much to be said about healing and forgiveness in this story of the paralytic being lowered through the roof by his friends because the crowd blocked the door! It is truly one of the more creative efforts to get to the front of a line! Those efforts on the part of the four men are what capture Jesus' initial attention. The text makes it clear that Jesus responds to THEIR faith and not faith on the part of the paralytic! Did you ever notice that any time someone goes to special efforts for the privilege of meeting Jesus that person gets what they ask for? Remember Zaccheus, the little guy who climbs the tree? Or the beggar, Bartimaeus, who outshouts the noisy crowd? Or the Canaanite woman who stands her ground in the face of Jesus' challenge? In today's story, the four friends of the paralytic are rewarded for their extra effort! Notice, too, that sometimes, like today, the response is not to the faith of the person being healed, it is to the faith of someone asking for the healing. The centurion who comes on behalf of his servant not only has his petition granted, but leaves us words we say every day at communnion time: "O Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof....."
Extra effort, whether on our own behalf or another's, motivated by faith in what the Lord can do, and is rewarded accordingly, speaks loudly in the gospels. A message this consistent should capture our attenton, and our own extra effort. AMEN