Word to the Wise
Thursday, June 30, 2022 - Thursday in the 13th Week in Ordinary Time
[Amos 7:10-17 and Matt 9:1-8]"And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Courage, child, your sins are forgiven." At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, "Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" - he then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher and go home." He rose and went home. When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to men. [Matthew]
The Gospel According to Matthew omits the wonderful detail in this story which adds strength to Jesus' reply to the faith of the stretcher-bearers. Mark and Luke report that the stretcher-bearers bring the paralytic up on the roof of the house, tear off the roofing and lower the stretcher down into the room in front of Jesus! (I think those guys must have been engineers!) Jesus sees "their faith" and heals the paralytic. The faith and "can-do" attitude of the paralytic's friends result not just in his being cured, but he is also healed of his sins and restored to his community.
A second thought occurs to me as well. God has given "such authority to men" to forgive sins. At the time, the crowds weren't acknowledging Jesus as a divine being, but saw him as a rabbi-wonder worker. The healing simply underscored his power to heal, but the matter of forgiving sins was something else!!! The belief of Catholics that God has indeed given authority on earth to the Church to forgive sins is not accepted by many non-Catholic Christian traditions, despite the clear statement in this same Gospel According to Matthew (16:18-19; 18:18) and John 20:23. But again and again I have witnessed tremendous healing that can occur when the Sacrament of Reconciliation is administered in a truly pastoral way and not simply as a "guilt-relief" rite. The story of the paralytic tells us not only about Jesus' power, but the power of the community in continuing his mission. AMEN
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