Gospel: 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.”
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Reflection:
Would you be willing to help someone in need?
We can gain a lot of valuable insights in today’s gospel reading, insights
about faith by the four men who brought to Jesus the paralytic. Insights about
forgiveness of our sins and spiritual as well as physical healing.
However, there are two more insights that we can learn in this gospel.
Insight on humility; the four that brought the paralytic to Jesus were so
humble that they immediately evaporated after they’ve brought the sick man to
Jesus. They did not care if they would be recognized for their heroic act. The
four men obviously had no bloated egos. So unlike many of us who always want to
be recognized and seen whenever we do good for our fellowmen.
The other insight that we can learn here is to be more sensitive to the
needs of those who are in greater need than us. Sometimes we are so concerned
about our own needs that we tend to forget the greater need of others. We
become very selfish instead of selfless.
The four humble men were selfless, perhaps they were also in need of
Jesus. But they saw that the paralytic was in greater need than them and need
to be immediately healed by Jesus. They’ve sacrificed their own need to address
the pressing need of the paralytic. They channeled every ounce of their
energies so that they could help the paralytic, even opening up the roof of the
house to bring him in front of Jesus.
Would you also be willing to help someone in need? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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