Homily - 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Homily — 7^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Isaiah 43:18-19.21-22; 24b-25 <> 2 Corinthians 1:18-22 <> Mark 2:1-12

Fr. Timothy W. Castor

There is much that happens in today’s gospel; much that we can talk about. Clearly, the point to the story—the point which the Church wishes us to realize—is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Mary, has power to forgive sins. Perhaps this is obvious to us. It certainly was not obvious to the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day. And what is not always obvious to people today is that Jesus has given this power and authority to forgive sins to other men—specifically, to his priests. Note what he says: "But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth." In other words, he is exercising, in his human nature, an authority which is proper to his divine nature. The scribes said, "Who but God alone can forgive sins?" And certainly this is true. Only God can forgive sins. But he is pleased to extend this power of forgiveness through the frail human instruments of his priests. And this is the basis for our sacrament of penance and reconciliation.

But there’s something else I would like to draw out of today’s Gospel, it certainly is not the primary message of the gospel, but it is an important one nonetheless. There is a message here concerning the nature of true friendship. We really don’t know what the paralytic thought about all these doings—being carried through the crowd up to the rooftop, lowered through the tiles, placed before Jesus. We really don’t know if he had faith in the Lord or if he even wanted to be healed. But we do know about his friends. Their faith was strong. They knew that their friend needed Jesus—that the Lord was his only hope. And they were willing to surmount seemingly impossible obstacles in order to get him to Jesus. It was the faith of these four men to which Jesus responds. Note what the Scripture says: "When Jesus saw their faith, he said the paralytic, ‘Child, your sins are forgiven.’"

These were true friends. They didn’t care what people thought; they didn’t care how foolish they looked up there on the roof. All they cared about was their friend’s well-being and they did whatever it took to bring him to the Lord.

And so we come to the inevitable question: Am I that kind of friend? Are you? When we recognize a spiritual need in our friends’ lives, do we take pains to help them meet that need? Occasionally I hear good Catholic folks say something like this: "I believe religion is a personal matter; I would never discuss the faith with my friends. They have their beliefs, I have mine." And then I have to wonder: how deep are those beliefs? If we really believed that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, that no one comes to the Father but by him, wouldn’t we want to share this truth with everyone? If we see someone harming himself through error or sin, don’t we feel the need to reach out to them with the truth? You’ve all heard the saying "friends don’t let friends drive drunk." Well, by the same token, friends don’t let friends rush headlong into hell.

When I was in seminary, one of my classmates from another diocese—someone I considered a close friend—clearly had a problem with alcohol. On any given evening, if a group of us went out for relaxation, most of us would have a drink or two, but this particular friend would have three or four or five—he didn’t seem to know when to stop. I told myself, "this doesn’t seem right; but it’s none of my business; he seems to have things under control." I guess I didn’t want to admit he had a problem any more than he did. But in retrospect, I realize that I was not the friend he needed. Eventually he did get help and went into treatment. As far as I know, he’s on the wagon today. Unfortunately, this help didn’t come before he almost killed himself and destroyed his prospects of ever becoming a priest. He was expelled from the seminary in the last year of his formation. I can’t help but think that, if his friends had intervened early on, he might be a priest today.

Today’s gospel is a reminder to us that, to be a true friend, we must always look for ways to bring our friends to Christ, and to bring Christ to them, whatever their need may be. Perhaps they need healing in body or mind—let us bring them to Christ. Perhaps they need to turn from sin or from a destructive habit—let us bring them to Christ. Perhaps they are confused or in error—let us bring them to Christ. May the Lord help us to be the friends he calls us to be and not to let any obstacle stand in the way of showing our friends the love, the forgiveness, the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.