19/02/2006 - 7th SUNDAY OF Ordinary Time - Year B
First Reading Isaiah 43:18-19; 21-22; 24b-25 Psalm 40/41
Second Reading 2Corinthians 1:18-22 Gospel Mark 2:1-12
Upon re-thinking on the First Commandment, I need to make mention of a diffused
mentality. With easy, we think and say things like these: "Of course, God
does not want me to suffer! Certainly, God wants my happiness! God did not put
us on earth to suffer!" These phrases can find justification and support
in the Holy Scriptures and in our sane conception of God. It is true, God wants
our happiness and suffering has come about on earth, not by the will of God,
but by the devil's envy! Woe, though, if we forget God's way of doing things!
It is not for nothing that God introduces the First Commandment by saying "I
am the Lord, your God, who freed you from the land of Egypt"! He freed
His people from the slavery of Egypt; He removed the people from that land of
suffering, but before giving them the joy of the land of milk and honey, He
made them go through the terrible experience of the desert! In the desert, the
people chose to free themselves of all that they had, even their dreams and,
above all, the spirit of pride and of rebellion. This came about by way of deprivation
and tribulation. God wants our happiness and prepares us for it, although the
preparation requires suffering! This is how the Father prepared us to welcome
to the Resurrection of Jesus after His tremendous passion and death! The phrases
mentioned above, which we use in our daily speech, are often used to justify
our unwillingness to carry our cross, even in the difficulties that spouses
face in their daily living, and thereby justifying separation and conjugal infidelities.
God may also allow our suffering; allow us to carry the burden of our sins and
the sins of those we love. With patience, and with faithful love and forgiveness,
a purer, more beautiful, holier and everlasting joy will follow!
The words of the Prophet Isaiah are truly consoling. First of all, God scolds
the people for having forgotten to pray and, therefore, not have faith in Him,
and worse, for sins and grave and continuous iniquities. But, He chose to be
known as the God of salvation; to begin anew! Therefore, He allows forgiveness,
not because the people are repentant and have converted, but because He is the
God who loves: "As far as I'm concerned, I no longer remember your sins"!
This is what the Psalm echoes. It is the prayer of an ailing, suffering person,
begging forgiveness. He does not doubt that his suffering is the fruit of his
sins. Because He knows that God can forgive, he hopes to be forgiven, and expects
healing, as well! All of this is confirmed in the Gospel passage. A paralyzed
man comes before Jesus, in an unforeseen way, and even more unforeseen, is how
Jesus appears to see him not as one who is sick, but as a sinner! His faith,
and the faith of those who carry him, surpasses all obstacles. Jesus, as well
as those who listen to him, are disturbed by the strange way in which this man
comes into the room, which by any other means would be not be reachable: he
comes down from the ceiling!
How can we not think about a room in which no one can enter? This is the room
which is said to be the Holy of Holies, more than the Veil, in the Temple, in
Jerusalem. It is there that the Presence of God is adored, and only the Highest
Priest can enter once a year with the blood of the holocaust in order to ask
forgiveness for the people. The one in charge of keeping that Sacrosanct Room
clean is lowered from above. Instead, here in Capernaum, in the room where Jesus
is speaking, the one who needs to be purified is the one coming down from above.
And that man, publicly declaring his faith in Jesus, will once again be found
in the heart of the Father who sent him: by loving the Son, he is united with
God! Jesus sees him, and sees that the distance between that man and God have
vanished; sin is no longer within him.
With fatherly love, the Lord, first of all, assures him of His love be calling
him "son", and then, reveals to him what has already taken place in
the Heavens. There, his sins so longer exist, because he has welcomed the Son
of God! Jesus can communicate what has happened, in the glory of the Father!
The scribes, though present, are more attentive to their science than to the
wisdom of God. They understand, judge and refuse to love Jesus, and so, remain
distant from the Father! Jesus loves them, as well, and helps them with the
anticipated sign, a clear sign of His identity: He is the Messiah, the Son of
God, the One sent by the Father! So, He commands the paralyzed man to rise,
take up his mat and go home.
Some may be amazed that Jesus did not invite the paralyzed man to wait in the
room to hear His teachings! No, He sends Him home! Just in case, he, himself,
may be freely looking to love Him by listening to Him intently, because, from
His words, come not only forgiveness and the healing of the body, but also true
life, eternal life! Jesus is truly the "yes" from God, as Saint Paul
reminds us. By welcoming Him, we receive the love and the goodness of the Father,
who wants joy and fullness of life for us all! We are sinners and weak; yet
God continues to be our Father!