Friday in the First Week of Ordinary Week in Ordinary Time, January 13, 2022

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.”

“When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home.”  This interesting phrase tells us that the Lord was able to come back quietly to the town he had adopted as his own and to remain living there an indeterminate number of days.  He must have lived very simply and not preached.  He must have stayed close to Peter’s house, in which he abided, or only gone out when others were out on the water or on their houses.  He would not have been idle, however.  Out in the wilderness outside of the town he must have moved and prayed to his Father, on the very verge of the almost frenzied activity that that would have ceased only with his Death on the Cross.  It is breathtaking to think that in those days, anyone might have walked up to him and engaged him in private conversation.  We might do so now if we could still our frenzied activity to sit with him.

Eventually, the people of the town discovered his presence among them and they came unbidden to the house where he stayed to ask him questions and to listen to his wisdom.  He “preached the word” to them, urging them to repent from their sins and to do penance, and taught about the Kingdom of heaven.  Neither St. Mark, nor St. Matthew, who also records this event, gives us any details about this preaching, or even says at what time of day it was given.  Since for the lives of many people in the town revolved around the fishing trade, the morning would have been filled with boats coming ashore, nets being mended, and fish being brought into the marketplaces, which would have swarmed with activity.  The main meal of the day was eaten around noon and then followed a short period of rest before the resumption of work before the sun set.  Such a daily routine left little time to listen to preaching, which the Lord probably did in the evening.  A curious fact is that normally the Lord preached in the Synagogue when he came to a place, though later the size of the crowds necessitated preaching outside the towns he visited.  But now the people will not wait until the Sabbath but will have him preach to them at this late hour.  It is a sign of their early passion for his wisdom.

“They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.”  Since the Lord had performed many healings earlier in his time in the town, it can be supposed that the paralytic lived in an outlying area.  The fact that four men brought him to Jesus tells us that the man had family and friends and had not been reduced to begging.  Spiritually, we learn from this that it is not one person alone who brings another to the Lord but it is the work of many, including those giving good example in their daily lives and praying for the conversion of the world.  “They opened up the roof above him.”  This detail reminds us that the original source for this event, namely St. Peter relating this to his disciple Mark, was an eyewitness.  Details such as this tell us of the time, place, and author.  A Greek author, for instance, not understanding the construction of houses in Roman era Palestine, would not include such a reference about the roof because it would make no sense to his audience.  We also learn from this detail the determination and the faith of those who have brought the man.  Presumably they had not expected such a crowd at this time, but seeing it, reasoned together and came up with a strategy.  They would have had to take the paralytic to the back of the house, climbed onto the roof, and then lifted him on his mat with ropes or discarded pieces of netting they must have found lying around.  

“Child, your sins are forgiven.” The Lord does use the word for “(male) child”, according to the Greek text, and not “son”.  He is a acting on the faith shown by the paralytic’s friends.  He also cures the underlying problem by forgiving the man’s sins.  Whether it was a sinful act that caused the paralysis or whether the man was a sinner, the Lord forgives him, looking into his heart and seeing there a desire for mercy.  The forgiveness of sins, which are so much worse than physical ailments, also restores the man’s ability to walk.  The Lord heals the man in this way in order to teach this, but also to demonstrate that he is the Son of God.  “Who but God alone can forgive sins?”  The scribes ask precisely the right question here, and it is a good question because to this point, the paralytic has not moved.  But then the Lord commands the man to stand and also to carry his own mat back home.  The man becomes well instantly at the moment Jesus cures him without need of recuperation, and is strong enough even to carry the mat on which he had been laid.  

“They were all astounded and glorified God.”  It seems that even the scribes rejoiced at the miracle, not knowing exactly what was happening but finding joy in this man walking again and, even more, this stunning sign of God’s presence among the human race.

How much we ought to rejoice and give thanks for the Sacrament of Penance, God’s merciful gift to us by which we are rendered clean again after we have sinned!