Today we hear the Gospel Lesson for the Sixth Sunday of Matthew 9:1-8, which recounts the story of the healing of the Paralytic whose friends had brought him to Jesus on a bed.
We all know the story which is also mentioned in the Gospel of Mark 2:1-12. Jesus was at home in Capernaum and was preaching to a crowd so large that the four men could not bring their friend on a stretcher into the house. Being undeterred, the men decided to break a hole into the roof of the home to lower the sick man down so he could see Jesus. Of course, astounded by their persistence and faith, Jesus forgave the paralytic of his sins and healed him. This lesson exhorts us to be resourceful in our service to the Lord and the Church. There are countless opportunities to do God’s work not just for ourselves but for our Church, our Community and the world in general.
We cannot sit back idly without pitching in and doing God’s work whether it be through worship, teaching, caring, or serving. We should not expect that someone else will do it for us and we just sit back and reap the benefits without making a personal effort on our part.
We need to be more attentive in our adherence to the tenets of the Church and use our God given initiative to help, edify and grow the community in which we live. Many of you have talents that you have not tapped into for a variety of reasons but that doesn’t mean you can’t start now seizing this opportunity to aid in the life of the parish.
The second point of this gospel lesson is that with our eagerness and resourcefulness it shows our faith and the possible results of a strong faith in Jesus. Just as Christ healed the paralytic, He also transferred the power of forgiving and healing to His disciples and to the Church today which continues through the Holy Sacraments.
Millions of suffering souls are around us, enduring both physical as well as spiritual illness. There is no reason we cannot as His servants endeavor through ingenious and resourceful ways to help them in their suffering. Let us strive to share our faith with those around us by inviting them to see what we see, to experience what we experience, to know the truth of the redeeming love of Our lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
