A few years ago, I met a
woman who hadn’t been to Mass in over a decade. She told me she’d stopped
coming not because she lost faith, but because she felt too broken, too weighed
down by guilt and regret, to stand among people who seemed whole. “I didn’t
think God would want me,” she said. That’s the kind of silence Jesus breaks in
today’s Gospel.
In Mark 2, we meet a
paralyzed man. He can’t walk. But more than that, he
can’t get to Jesus. Four men, who were probably his friends or relatives,
brought him to Jesus. But they face a major obstacle. A large crowd
surrounded Jesus to the point that there was no access to Him. These four
men were not discouraged by this obstacle. Instead, they become creative. They
climb onto the roof, tear through tiles, and lower him right into the middle of
the crowd, right at the feet of Christ.
The Power of Love and
Creative Faith: These four men teach us that when we love
people, we will not let anything deter us from helping them. The most beautiful
aid we can offer, especially to those who have been incapacitated by situations
(sins, sickness, loss of job, brokenness, divorce, etc.), is to bring them to
Jesus, carrying them in our heart in prayer. Obstacles would arise in our
journey of faith. It is then that we should be more creative. Instead of giving
up, as men do, we should make the effort to help others.
And what does Jesus say
first? One would have thought that Jesus would tell him, “Rise up.” “Be
healed.” Instead, He says: “Child, your sins are forgiven.” In Jesus'
time, some people easily associated sickness with sin. One is considered sick
because of his or her sins. While this can sometimes be true, it is not always
true. What Jesus did is far more than what many were thinking by then.
Now, that might surprise
us. The paralyzed man was brought to Jesus for healing, and Jesus first offered
forgiveness. He sees what no one else can: the deeper paralysis, the
isolation, the shame, the sense of being unworthy to approach God. And before
He touches the body, He heals the soul.
The scribes murmur: “Who
can forgive sins but God alone?” Exactly. That’s the point. Jesus isn’t
just a healer. He is God-with-us, speaking divine mercy with human lips.
The Healing Power of
Jesus: Then He says, “Stand up, take your mat, and go
home.”
And the man does. Not only is he walking, but he’s carrying his past with him,
now transformed. The mat that once held his helplessness becomes a sign of new
life.
This story isn’t just
about one miracle long ago. It’s about how Christ meets us today in our own
brokenness and our inability to walk to Him.
Maybe you feel stuck by
failure, addiction, grief, or regret. Maybe you’ve tried to pray, but it feels
like shouting through a ceiling. Or maybe you’re not the one on the mat, but
you know someone who is; it could be a friend, a child maltreated by parents
and adults, a neighbor in difficulty, etc.
Jesus asks us: Will
you carry them? Will you be the hands that lift them up to God, the voice
that insists, “There’s room for you with Jesus, even if we have to break
through the roof”?
And to those who feel too
broken to come forward: hear this. You don’t need to be
fixed to be forgiven. You don’t need to be worthy to be welcomed by Jesus.
Jesus sees you as a child to love and not as a problem to solve. He sees your
worth where others see only your handicap.
So bring your paralysis.
Bring your doubts. Bring your friends. Climb the roof of faith if you must.
Because here, in this place, in this moment, today, Christ is saying to you:
“Your sins are forgiven. Rise. Walk. Go home, to your Father in Heaven, to
your dignity, to your life.”
And when you do, don’t
hide your mat. Carry it as a witness of hope with Joy:
“I was bound. Now I am free. And it began when someone believed enough for
both of us.”
Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus,
I place before you my weakness and my silence.
I bring also those I carry in my heart.
Forgive what binds me.
Strengthen what feels unable to move.
Give me faith that persists when the way is blocked.
Teach me to trust your mercy today.
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