Friday, 12 January 2007

Friday of the First Week of the Year

Mark 2: 1-12

Today we are struck by the great faith of the men who carry the paralytic to Jesus on a mat. The crowds listening to Jesus had gathered in such great numbers that people could no longer get close to Him. Four men appear, carrying a paralytic. They will stop at nothing to bring the man to Jesus. They climb up onto the top of the house and open the tiles in the roof. They lower the man down to Jesus in the midst of the crowd. These men have such faith, and such trust in Jesus.
Upon seeing their faith, Jesus forgives the man’s sins, and heals him. Notice that it is not the faith of the paralyzed man himself that moves Jesus to forgive his sins. Rather, it is the faith of the men who carried him that inspires Jesus to heal the man in soul and body.
Faith and trust are values and virtues that are severely lacking in our world today. Statistics about Mass attendance and participation in the life of the Church are cause for alarm. For so many people, weddings, funerals, and baptisms are the only times they are seen in church, and are no longer signs of a life of faith. The general lack of authentic participation in the life of the Church, and the failure of so many to accept and live out of her teachings in their lives, betrays a lack of faith in our world today. The world is loosing its faith in Jesus.
Trust is missing in our relationship with God and our relationships with one another. Authentic love of God means surrendering ourselves to Him, so that His will for us becomes the rock on which our lives are founded. God is infinitely good, and forever loving. We can place our trust in Him, and He will never fail us.
What is more, God calls each human person to be a person of integrity, a person in whom others can place their trust. Our world needs the example of trustworthy people. Today’s readings from Sacred Scripture are a call to every Christian man and woman to really live the faith they claim to profess. By a living example of faith, we have the means to bring others close to Jesus.
In the world there is a different kind of “crowd” than the one we see in the Gospel. The media and popular opinion want to keep us from Jesus because they have lost faith in him. Don’t let them. Like the men in today’s Gospel, let nothing stop you from entering deeply into a relationship with Jesus and from bringing others close to Him.