Gospel (Mk 2:1-12)

And when Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room for them, not even about the door; and he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question thus in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your pallet and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—“I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home.”

And he rose, and immediately took up the pallet and went out before them all; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Commentary

In the scene presented to us today, a paralytic wants to catch Jesus’ attention. But he is totally dependent on the help of others, since he needs four people to bring him to the Master and ask for healing. In fact, our Lord’s first words, “your sins are forgiven,” are spoken when Jesus sees the faith of those carrying the invalid.

Besides the great miracle of healing that our Lord performs on the soul and body of the sick person and hardness of heart of the scribes observing the miracle, we are struck by the tenacity of those four people carrying the paralytic. They give us a lesson in how we too are called to strive to assist the people around us to draw closer to our Lord.

Those four people were convinced that the miracle of healing was possible, and therefore they made light of the effort needed to look for a stretcher and carry the sick person to a spot right in front of the Master. They wanted the miracle with all their might because of their love for the sick person, ​​who was surely a friend of theirs, and they sought what was best for him.

Moreover Jesus, as he so often does with us, responds quickly, since he wants us to show Him our deepest needs and longings in order to fulfill them. Sometimes we will be able to draw close to Him on our own. But often we will need the help of a brother or sister or friend by our side to take the steps needed to find Jesus.