Journey's Weekly Homilies


FEBRUARY 23
7th Sunday-Ordinary Time
Homily by Jim

Is.43:18-19,21-22,24-25
2Cor.1:18-22
Mark 2:1-12

Today's gospel is the last in a series of five healing stories. This one demonstrates the power of faith, and in this particular case we learn what others can do in if they are persons of faith.
The paralyzed man in Mark's story was like one who had been in prison. He was alone, despised, rejected. But there were four persons who cared about him, and they would take him to one who would make all the difference.

Let me say a few words about the concern, commitment and cooperation these persons showed.  They may serve as models for us in our own struggles to bring meaning to our lives and to other too.

Who were these four persons? (Do notice that Mark doesn't say 'men' or 'women'--he says 'persons.') What can we get from studying their story? Let's see . .  .
The text says:  "When Jesus saw their faith . . . he said to the paralyzed man, 'My son, your sins are forgiven.' "All the time we thought it was the man's faith that would get him forgiven and cured, but it isn't like that:  IT IS THE FAITH OF THE FOUR persons that results in the forgiveness and cure. (It has been debated for centuries
if the paralyzed man had faith;  we don't know and never will.)

So what did these four persons do that Jesus sees and calls 'their faith'?

They came  together and formed a community when  they found this rejected man, and determined to take him to Jesus. It is an act of heroism and of grace.
Their ministering to a socially low person say so much about love and concern. The generosity of this act may move us to look for parallels in our lives. . . are they there?.  We may have saved a woman or a man's life by bringing her or him to a place of healing, but have we shown a particular concern to one in pain when the need might seen insignificant or cause us to be embarrassed or ridiculed?  The four men took quite a risk, for if the plan failed they would probably be the laughing stock of the community or the defendants in a law suit.

I think of Dorothy Day who founded the Catholic Worker.  The rank and file members of the church back then
--in the early  30's--were suspicious of her; some thought she was even tainted with communism. They associated  'Catholic Worker' with 'Workers of the world Unite.'

To the story: Mark says, "And when they could not get near Jesus ... they removed the roof above him . . . and let down the pallet on which  the paralyzed man lay."

The inference here is that there had to be a decision; it wasn't done on the spur of the moment.  Plans were needed. They can't have known beforehand that the door would be blocked by people, so they would not have been carrying tools; thus, one of the four had to get ropes, another had to find a tools--an ax, as we would say, a hammer, poles . . . there had to great coordination or the whole project would collapse with catastrophic results.  They were a team.
The reasonable thing to have done would have been to go back home when they found the door impassible. After all they arrived late, and they were carrying a stretcher. But they weren't about to allow any barrier to prevent them from reaching the one with the authority to heal.

To digress for just a moment, I cannot read this story without being amused: Imagine Jesus quietly teaching the word in the house then hearing the uproar on the roof; he had to stop when the pounding began.  And suddenly dust is flying, bits straw are floating down and chinks of clay are falling on the guests, and then behold the bottom of the mat is seen to be hovering unsteadily in the air   Many gasped in disbelief. 

But if Jesus could say to the paralyzed man, your sins are forgiven, he could certainly forgive the four bearers the intrusion, and he might very well have praised them. I smile when I think of the house owner worrying about the costs of repairs  tradition says it is Peter's house, and it would have been in character for him to sit there sweating it out--he probably didn't have State Farm.

Again on the serious side, this event is an example of the need for cooperation in a community, without which there can be disastrous results:   people misunderstand one another; they disagree, sometimes become angry, hurt; the need for communication and trust is great. When there is a clear plan, though, each person recognizes his or her role and works hard to achieve the goal.

Finally, this story is an example of commitment, for without that the whole endeavor would have failed half way through the project.  They didn't find excuses as to why they could not be there on that particular day to take the man to Jesus.
And you know, this paralyzed man came from nowhere, so to speak, but when he leaves, Jesus says to him,"Rise, take up you pallet, and go HOME!" In the opening lines of this gospel,  Mark tells us Jesus was 'at home.'

The paralyzed man came from nowhere, so to speak, but now he has a 'home' to go to.  That is as much a mystery as the forgiveness itself.

So now we can go home, with thanks in our hearts that we have a home to go to, and we can carry with us our faith in community.