Word to the Wise
Thursday, July 4, 2024 - Thursday in the 13th Week in Ordinary Time
[Amos 7:10-17 and Matt 9:1-8]After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town. 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." [Matthew]
THURSDAY, JULY 4, 2024 THURSDAY IN THE 13TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME [Independence Day, U.S.A.]
[Amos 7:10-17 and Matthew 9:1-8. These scriptures may change in the USA in honor of Independence Day]
After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town. 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." [Matthew]
The evangelist Matthew leaves out the color in his report of this incident. In the other two synoptic gospels, the stretcher-bearers bring the paralytic up on the roof and tear off enough to lower him down into the room in front of Jesus!! Even so, the focus in this incident is on Jesus' power to forgive sins and not on the physical miracle. Jesus' action restores not just physical health but spiritual/moral health to the paralytic. He is restored to his community and receives "new life." The reaction of the crowd - ....[T]hey were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to men - shows that they still do not recognize who Jesus is. They simply see him as a man who has been given power by God rather than as the one who has that power by identity!
The belief that humans, however, have been given this power to forgive sins in God's name - what would become the Sacrament of Reconciliation - would become an issue in early Christian preaching at synagogues! It is still an issue between our Catholic tradition and Protestant tradition. But I have witnessed first hand the power of that sacrament in the life of individuals who have come to me for that sacramental experience. The emphasis on forgiveness in the Gospel According to Matthew is an important one. It is not just a matter of "guilt relief," but on reconciliation and restoration. If we were able to talk to that paralytic, he could help us understand the difference! AMEN