'Which is easier to say to a paralytic, "Your sins are forgiven", or to say "Stand up and take your mat and walk"? - Mark 2:9 pic.twitter.com/c1kg9TWiJ8— Pray as you go (@prayasugo) January 12, 2018
The First Book of Samuel tells of the choice of the Israelites to be governed by a king.
* [8:1–22] From this chapter on, the editors of 1 Samuel provide two and sometimes three perspectives on the same event: e.g., the selection of Saul as king is recounted in chap. 8; 10:17–24; chap. 12.In the Gospel from Mark the journey of the paralytic from rooftop to forgiveness of sins is facilitated by faith and friends.
* [2:5] It was the faith of the paralytic and those who carried him that moved Jesus to heal the sick man. Accounts of other miracles of Jesus reveal more and more his emphasis on faith as the requisite for exercising his healing powers (Mk 5:34; 9:23–24; 10:52).Larry Gillick, S.J. suggests that we tend to allow Jesus to forgive us only after we have made a journey from our personal pride and have had time to recover from the shock of not being our holy-self.
We can be so disappointed in ourselves that we emphasize the sin as an insult to our image of ourselves. Jesus does not deal with a sin or the sin, but restores the sick or injured person to the person they are in His eyes. Jesus tells this character to get up, get out and keep going. The man has risen in two senses. He rises from a physical condition and he rises to be a man who receives and remembers who he really is. Sin is a temporary statement of who we say we are. Jesus is a permanent Statement about who He says we are.Don Schwager quotes Peter Chrysologus (400-450 AD) on our challenge to make the journey that reverses our relation with sickness by giving testimony to our soundness.
"Take up your bed. Carry the very mat that once carried you. Change places, so that what was the proof of your sickness may now give testimony to your soundness. Your bed of pain becomes the sign of healing, its very weight the measure of the strength that has been restored to you." (excerpt from HOMILY 50.6)Friar Jude Winkler shares the political background to Samuel acceding to the request of the people for a king to replace the judges. The miracle format in Scripture is description, appeal, action, and reaction. The first reaction of the scribes was anger, an inappropriate reaction, that was a response to Jesus use of Divine authority.
The Franciscan Media website tells of Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys (Memorial today in Canada) walk from Montreal to Quebec at the age of 69.
Marguerite established a school for Indian girls in Montreal. At the age of 69, she walked from Montreal to Quebec in response to the bishop’s request to establish a community of her sisters in that city. By the time she died, she was referred to as the “Mother of the Colony.” Marguerite was canonized in 1982.Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares that our journey to begin to see with new eyes, involves observing—and usually be humiliated by—the habitual way we encounter each and every moment.
The spiritual journey is a constant interplay between moments of awe followed by a process of surrender to that moment. We must first allow ourselves to be captured by the goodness, truth, or beauty of something beyond and outside ourselves. Then we universalize from that moment to the goodness, truth, and beauty of the rest of reality, until our realization eventually ricochets back to include ourselves! This is the great inner dialogue we call prayer. We humans resist both the awe and, even more, the surrender. Both are vital, and so we must practice.Practice Contemplative Consciousness to attempt to encompass both universal truths and particular encounters with God in our journey.
References
(n.d.). 1 Samuel, chapter 8 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved January 12, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/1samuel/8
(n.d.). Mark, chapter 2 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved January 12, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/2
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved January 12, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved January 12, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
(n.d.). Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys – Franciscan Media. Retrieved January 12, 2018, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-marguerite-bourgeoys/
(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved January 12, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/
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