February 22, 2009 Seventh Ordinary Sunday of the Year Is. 43:18-19, 21-22, 24-25; 2 Cor. 1:18-22; Mk. 2:1-12 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/022209.shtml             ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________     Sin, forgiveness, faith, suffering, healing - these powerful themes resonate throughout the readings for this Sunday. "My child, your sins are forgiven". The focus of the story shifts from a miracle of healing to a controversy over the power to pronounce the forgiveness of sin. Forgiveness is a divine prerogative.   Dependent on the care of others, the paralytic is lifted to the roof and lowered precariously before Jesus, who praises the faith of the litter bearers. The symbolism is rich here.   The journey toward spiritual and physical healing often begins by support from the faith of others, and involves the courage to let go and be carried by them.   While paralysis is not a divine punishment, sin can be a form of paralysis, an inability to move. The experience of forgiveness, on the other hand, enables a person to rise up and return home with dignity. Sin is isolation and alienation; forgiveness is homecoming.   Forgiveness can work miracles. When we experience it from another, burdens are lifted from our shoulders, and life seems to hold new possibilities. We are assured that we are acceptable even though we are weak and we make mistakes. Forgiveness is a precious gift that must never be taken for granted. Then in turn, when we are in a position to forgive, forgiveness should not be withheld. Instead, it should be given generously, just as God grants it to us.   We see the paralytic man being lowered into the room through the roof. He believed that Jesus could heal him of his physical ailment, and because of his faith he received even more than he had hoped. He walked out of the house a new man. Faith in the power of Jesus worked a miracle. Actually, it worked two miracles: the forgiveness of sin and the healing of infirmity.   Jesus did not heal the paralytic man on condition that he embark on a new way of living. God seems to forgive us first. It is the realization of having been forgiven that then prompts us to change our lives for the better. Hence, the words we use in forgiving may seem trite, but our acts of forgiveness are often marvellously transformative.     <<   Previous: Sixth Ordinary Sunday of the Year  | Next: Ash Wednesday >>   Go Back to SERMONS (Year B)