Word to the Wise
Friday, January 16, 2015 - Friday in the 1st Week in Ordinary Time
[Heb 4:1-5, 11 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, "Chilc, your sins are forgiven." [Mark]
After reading this scene, I can only say that I hope I will always have friends like those of the paralytic! (I know I do.) There is a very important word here: "THEIR." It is the faith of the paralytic's friends that Jesus sees. Certainly their dramatic way of getting their friend to Jesus indicates the determination born of their faith. We can easily miss this between the imaginative drama of tearing off the roof and letting the stretcher down on one hand, and Jesus' power to heal and forgive sins, on the other.
One way of looking at this is to note that the paralytic is helped by a community of friends. Despite his illness, which would have made him "unclean" in the eyes of the scribes, the friends still support and care for him. Perhaps their actions could inspire us to think about the communities to which we belong and consider their care for us: family, friends, colleagues, or those we serve in some capacity. It is their faith that may make all the difference in our own lives someday. AMEN