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Gospel: Mark 2: 1-12
When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days,
it became known that he was at home.
Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them,
not even around the door,
and he preached the word to them.
They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd,
they opened up the roof above him.
After they had broken through,
they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him,
“Child, your sins are forgiven.”
Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves,
“Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming.
Who but God alone can forgive sins?”
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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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“Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him.”
Sometimes a simple history lesson helps to bring these biblical stories to life. If we imagined four friends trying to pull a “Santa Claus,” sending a paralyzed friend either down the chimney or through some manufactured hole in the roof, we’d laugh incredulously.
There’s no way such a story could be true.
So, how did these four besties successfully get their friend lowered to the feet of Jesus?
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In ancient Palestine, humble homes were not only small; they also had flat roofs, which provided extra space. Often, there was a small staircase outside leading to that roof.
The roof itself was constructed out of wooden beams spaced roughly three feet apart. The empty space between them was filled with brush and clay. This is how the men broke a hole in their neighbor’s roof, allowing their friend to reach the feet of Jesus.
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Notice, the first thing the Lord says before physically healing the man is, “Your sins are forgiven.”
In the ancient world, Jews associated suffering with sin; if you were a sinful person, then God punished you with pain. Thus, when the Lord says, “Your sins are forgiven,” he’s saying, “Do not worry. God is not angry with you.”
It’s the same thing Pope Francis is trying to teach Catholics today. God is not angry with us; rather, he loves us intensely. Whenever we find ourselves like this man – “paralyzed” by sin – we should simply approach the Lord and ask for his merciful healing.
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The Lord always says to us in the confessional what he said in that Palestinian person’s home:
“Child, your sins are forgiven… Rise, pick up your mat, and go home.”
How beautiful it’d be to hear those words today.
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Image credits: (1)Aaron Spong, Pixels (2) Letter Pile (3) Scars of Faith, Facebook