THE PARALYTIC THROUGH THE ROOF

Mk 2 : 1-12

The text of today's gospel is a tale of the healing of the paralytic. It is a beautiful story that happens in this house on which the roof is deliberately destroyed. It is really a matter of faith. The faith of these men who bring a paralytic on a mat; a decisive, and active faith, almost impatient. They suffer to see their disabled friend, and they know that Jesus is for him the last chance, a real chance that God alone gives.

At all costs they must cross the indifference of the crowd; by all means they have to allow this cripple to encounter Jesus; it is necessary that, at least for a moment, this poor man who can no longer do move, passes before the others to meet Jesus. They have faith that if Jesus sees this man, his package of suffering and misery will be finished.

Suddenly, the mat falls through a hole in the roof; the man is there, at the feet of Jesus, immobile then ever. Everyone expects the word of healing, but the words that come seem to ignore physical suffering. Jesus says: “Child, your sins are forgiven.” St. Mark says: ' Jesus, seeing their faith, and said to the paralytic: your sins are forgive. Jesus saw their faith, he counts on their faith. The healing will come, but in a second time, as a reward for faith, and as a sign to shake the disbelief of the scribes. He will then say: "I command you, take your stretcher and go home!”

For years he had been dragged everywhere on his stretcher, and here he is carrying it himself. His past of misery and despair is gone. On the order of Jesus, he removes himself all signs of his paralysis and goes walking. The Yes of the faith in Jesus Christ courageously deletes all impressions of helplessness.

Through this episode of the Gospel, Jesus is just telling us that "what paralyses our life is sin." And the first message comes from the stretcher-bearers; those who brought the paralytic to Jesus. We should not resign ourselves from the paralysis of our brothers and sisters or we should not consider them away from Christ; we should never cease to pray for them, to bring them to Jesus because we do not have the right to say: "it is final, it is irreversible for him, for her, there is nothing we can do.” It is our duty to bring them to Jesus.

The second message is from the paralytic himself. We must not resign ourselves from our own paralysis. Sin, or sorrow, or any spiritual failures are not fatalities in our lives. We have to accept that others seize our stretchers and lead us to Christ, even if it is humiliating.