Daily Retreat 02/22/09
2009 Feb 22 SUN: SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Is 43: 18-19. 21-22. 24b-25/ Ps 40(41): 2-3. 4-5. 13-14 (5b)/ 2 Cor 1: 18-22/ Mk 2: 1- 12
From today’s readings: “Thus says the LORD: Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new!... Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.... As God is faithful, our word to you is not “yes” and “no....” They came bringing to Him a paralytic carried by four men. ”
Carrying Others to Christ
When reading the Bible, we must always strive to avoid reading “into” the sacred text our own preconceived ideas, prejudices, and assumptions, for scripture is truly the “Word of God,” what He wants to say to us. However, since even the most detailed passages can frequently support many different insights, more than one legitimate interpretation can often be validly argued. As long as one respects the integrity of sacred scripture and takes into account the entire Tradition of our faith, it’s oftentimes beneficial to consider new points of view.
Consider, for example, the healing of the paralytic, recorded in today’s Gospel reading. The focus is clearly on the man’s healing as the visible guarantee of the forgiveness of his sins when Jesus said to him, “Child, your sins are forgiven!” But that central insight shouldn’t prevent us from considering other details of this miracle.
Note, for instance, in introducing the Lord’s proclamation of the forgiveness of sins, the Gospel clearly reads, “... Jesus saw their faith.” Not just “his” faith, but “their” faith! In other words, what warranted Jesus’ attention was not just the faith of the paralyzed man, the one who would directly receive the blessing of forgiveness and healing, for evidently, Jesus was also touched by the faith of those who brought the man to Him.
In fact, we can legitimately speculate a bit about the faith of the paralytic - did he himself hear about Jesus, and then beg his friends to bring him to the Lord, and insist that they promise to do everything possible to get him close to the Lord? Or did his friends first hear about Jesus - were they the ones to initially tell the paralyzed man about Jesus, maybe even needing to overcome the sick man’s skepticism, and fear of being pulled up on top of the roof? On this point, scripture is not clear: perhaps the entire fivesome were all strong in their faith, but then again, maybe one or more of them were weak in faith, but dragged along willy nilly by the fervent faith of the others.
And so, while each person’s faith by itself must be addressed and nurtured, the issue shouldn’t be reduced to just “your” individual faith and “my” individual faith - the Lord Himself considers (and wants us to also consider) our collective faith, which could very well be more than just the sum of its parts!
For whenever we come to Jesus in prayer, we should also bring others with us, carrying them if necessary, at least through our prayer! We should bring all those who can not come to Jesus and His Church on their own because of illness or other handicaps - sometimes this means physically assisting those in need of transportation, or with other special considerations. We bring them to Jesus, that He may fill their lives with hope and healing, strength and comfort!
But when we come to Jesus in prayer, we should also bring all those who do not come to Jesus and His Church on their own because of ignorance, doubt, confusion and other difficulties, those who perhaps haven’t even thought much yet of issues of faith in their lives. We bring them to Jesus, that He may fill their lives with faith and the Sanctifying Grace of His Presence!
And when we come to Jesus in prayer, we should even bring all those who deliberately will not come to the Jesus and His Church on their own because of alienation, anger, fear, or other troubles, so that our patient God may fill their lives with charity as He draws them ever nearer to Himself and His Mystical Body, the Church!
Is 43: 18-19. 21-22. 24b-25/ Ps 40(41): 2-3. 4-5. 13-14 (5b)/ 2 Cor 1: 18-22/ Mk 2: 1- 12
From today’s readings: “Thus says the LORD: Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new!... Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.... As God is faithful, our word to you is not “yes” and “no....” They came bringing to Him a paralytic carried by four men. ”
Carrying Others to Christ
When reading the Bible, we must always strive to avoid reading “into” the sacred text our own preconceived ideas, prejudices, and assumptions, for scripture is truly the “Word of God,” what He wants to say to us. However, since even the most detailed passages can frequently support many different insights, more than one legitimate interpretation can often be validly argued. As long as one respects the integrity of sacred scripture and takes into account the entire Tradition of our faith, it’s oftentimes beneficial to consider new points of view.
Consider, for example, the healing of the paralytic, recorded in today’s Gospel reading. The focus is clearly on the man’s healing as the visible guarantee of the forgiveness of his sins when Jesus said to him, “Child, your sins are forgiven!” But that central insight shouldn’t prevent us from considering other details of this miracle.
Note, for instance, in introducing the Lord’s proclamation of the forgiveness of sins, the Gospel clearly reads, “... Jesus saw their faith.” Not just “his” faith, but “their” faith! In other words, what warranted Jesus’ attention was not just the faith of the paralyzed man, the one who would directly receive the blessing of forgiveness and healing, for evidently, Jesus was also touched by the faith of those who brought the man to Him.
In fact, we can legitimately speculate a bit about the faith of the paralytic - did he himself hear about Jesus, and then beg his friends to bring him to the Lord, and insist that they promise to do everything possible to get him close to the Lord? Or did his friends first hear about Jesus - were they the ones to initially tell the paralyzed man about Jesus, maybe even needing to overcome the sick man’s skepticism, and fear of being pulled up on top of the roof? On this point, scripture is not clear: perhaps the entire fivesome were all strong in their faith, but then again, maybe one or more of them were weak in faith, but dragged along willy nilly by the fervent faith of the others.
And so, while each person’s faith by itself must be addressed and nurtured, the issue shouldn’t be reduced to just “your” individual faith and “my” individual faith - the Lord Himself considers (and wants us to also consider) our collective faith, which could very well be more than just the sum of its parts!
For whenever we come to Jesus in prayer, we should also bring others with us, carrying them if necessary, at least through our prayer! We should bring all those who can not come to Jesus and His Church on their own because of illness or other handicaps - sometimes this means physically assisting those in need of transportation, or with other special considerations. We bring them to Jesus, that He may fill their lives with hope and healing, strength and comfort!
But when we come to Jesus in prayer, we should also bring all those who do not come to Jesus and His Church on their own because of ignorance, doubt, confusion and other difficulties, those who perhaps haven’t even thought much yet of issues of faith in their lives. We bring them to Jesus, that He may fill their lives with faith and the Sanctifying Grace of His Presence!
And when we come to Jesus in prayer, we should even bring all those who deliberately will not come to the Jesus and His Church on their own because of alienation, anger, fear, or other troubles, so that our patient God may fill their lives with charity as He draws them ever nearer to Himself and His Mystical Body, the Church!
posted by FrPitstick | 2/20/2009
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