Tag: paralytic

“Follow me.” | Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

“The Call of St Matthew” flickr photo by Lawrence OP https://flickr.com/photos/paullew/29832494395 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 2:13-17)

Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus heard this and said to them, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

About the people who follow Jesus, Mark tells us: “many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples.” On seeing Levi, a tax collector commonly identified as the evangelist Matthew, Jesus invites him to come dine with him with the other disciples. Teaching those who accept his invitation—”Follow me.”—Jesus teaches and heals. Whether they respond, Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees is a quiet, insistent invitation for all people to receive forgiveness and healing from the Divine Physician.

God, just as Samuel anointed Saul to lead and free the Israelites, you sent Jesus Christ your Son to liberate your people from the bondage of sin. “Follow me,” Jesus says. Let that invitation to conversion remain in my heart and mind when I know I need his help but especially when I fail to come to that realization. With a contrite heart, give me the grace to receive healing from the Divine Physician, whose mercy and forgiveness frees me to live in the light of his salvation. Grasp me by the hand, Lord; let me hear your call and know how to respond when I hear you say, “Follow me.”

From the responsorial psalm: “The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor and to proclaim liberty to captives.” Saint Hilary of Poitiers, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“We have never seen anything like this.” | Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 2:1-12)

Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? 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 say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”

In Mark’s account of the paralytic being lowered through the roof, faith is central in understanding the actions of the friends who brought the paralytic to Jesus. Whether by the paralytic’s prompting or by the insistence of his friends, the man is brought before Jesus because of their faith. As Jesus heals the man, the necessity of faith is evident to all onlookers who come to see Jesus, including the scribes who accuse Jesus of blasphemy in saying to the man, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” As the man picks up his mat and goes home, the people are astounded and glorify God. In his words and actions, Jesus gives glory to his Father; in picking up his mat and walking home, the paralytic is living proof of Jesus’ authority, both to heal and to forgive sins. The people who witness this are amazed, and themselves begin to recognize that in returning home, Jesus demonstrates that he is not only the ordinary son of Joseph and Mary but one whose extraordinary power is from God alone.

God, help me witness you at work in the world today and give me an opportunity to be a witness to those whose lives I touch. I can see it play out so that neither of these happens. For this reason, I ask in faith for your divine assistance; where belief is lacking, help my unbelief. If only it were easy to draw comparisons between the paralytic and the rigidity of my own brokenness and hold that thought. But, Lord, I tend to forget you during the day, so I ask for your aid when even easy comparisons fail to come to mind. In Capernaum, so many came to hear Jesus your Son that there was no room for them. “And he preached the word to them,” Mark says. Help me to hear your word today, take it in, and give glory to you in witnessing to my faith.

From the responsorial psalm: “A great prophet has arisen in our midst and God has visited his people.” Lord, visit me today; heal me and make me whole.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

“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.

In today’s Gospel, people bring Jesus a paralytic lying on a stretcher. With the words, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven,” Jesus cures him. The scribes believe Jesus is blaspheming by saying that his sins are forgiven. But Jesus, whose word make reality present, says to the scribes: “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk'”? Despite the skepticism and opposition Jesus faced from the religious leaders of the time, this reveals Jesus’ power to both heal and forgive as the Word incarnate.

God, thank you for calling me to you as Jesus called the paralytic to take heart and receive his forgiveness. Whether Jesus says “Rise and walk” or “Your sins are forgiven,” that same reality is made present in his words. Reconciled to you in trust, the paralytic was able to rise and go home. Thank you, Father of mercies, for the sacrament of reconciliation. Through it, the reality of your forgiveness is made present today in repentance and in the absolution of the priest who absolves sins by saying, “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Lord, stay with me today as I recall the Gospel acclamation: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.