Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I
Is 43:18-19, 21-22, 24b-25
Thus says the LORD:
Remember not the events of the past,
the things of long ago consider not;
see, I am doing something new!
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
In the desert I make a way,
in the wasteland, rivers.
The people I formed for myself,
that they might announce my praise.
Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob,
for you grew weary of me, O Israel.
You burdened me with your sins,
and wearied me with your crimes.
It is I, I, who wipe out,
for my own sake, your offenses;
your sins I remember no more.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 41:2-3, 4-5, 13-14
R. (5b) Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.
Blessed is the one who has regard for the lowly and the poor;
in the day of misfortune the LORD will deliver him.
The LORD will keep and preserve him;
and make him blessed on earth,
and not give him over to the will of his enemies.
R. Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.
The LORD will help him on his sickbed,
he will take away all his ailment when he is ill.
Once I said, "O LORD, have pity on me;
heal me, though I have sinned against you."
R. Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.
But because of my integrity you sustain me
and let me stand before you forever.
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from all eternity. Amen. Amen.
R. Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.
Reading II
2 Cor 1:18-22
Brothers and sisters:
As God is faithful,
our word to you is not "yes" and "no."
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ,
who was proclaimed to you by us, Silvanus and Timothy and me,
was not "yes" and "no," but "yes" has been in him.
For however many are the promises of God, their Yes is in him;
therefore, the Amen from us also goes through him to God for glory.
But the one who gives us security with you in Christ
and who anointed us is God;
he has also put his seal upon us
and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.
Gospel
Mk 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 the paralytic,
"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."
COMMENTARY
Isaiah explains how the exodus helped Israel to perceive what Yahweh was doing now, but it was also being eclipsed in a fulfillment beyond all hopes. While Yahweh appears forcefully as Israel’s savior, nonetheless by contrast Israel shows up as a servant who has become a burden even to Yahweh. Regardless of this Israel is still chosen, forgiven, and redeemed, to the joy of the entire earth.
Human ingratitude and divine mercy meet; God’s invectives, delivered in courtroom style, are followed by forgiveness. The buildup is massive; each line in vv 22-24 begin with a negative. This section is difficult to interpret because the prophet shifts from pre-exilic days, when sacrifices were offered as though they were the essence of religion, into the exilic period, when sacrifices were impossible. Both Israel and God are weary, but for different reasons.
Paul did not say “yes, yes” eagerly when he thought his readers expected agreement, or “no, no” when they wanted a negative response. What he said he meant sincerely. The faithful God revealed in a totally dedicated Christ and in an unambiguous gospel, would not have commissioned Paul were he not completely dependable. “our word” refers primarily to Paul’s preaching, but in this context also to his travel plans in the service of that gospel. The former participated in the dependability of the latter. “Son of God”: Only here is this traditional title combined with the name Jesus Christ. “Silvanus” is a Latinized form of Silas. His presence at Corinth is attested by 1 Thess 1:1 and Acts 18:5; cf. Acts 15-17.
Christ never wavered in his commitment. The gospel is equally unambiguous. Christ brought to reality in history all the varied forms in which God had promised salvation. He is the seed of Abraham (Gal 3:16), the Davidic Messiah (Rom 1:4); the last Adam (1 Cor 1:30). The “Amen” given by Paul is in reality the liturgical assent of the community, which prolongs the assent of the Son that proclaims the fidelity of the Father. God’s ongoing communication of his fidelity conforms both Paul and the Corinthians to the faithful Christ. In other words, they are anointed by faith.
Today’s Gospel reading is the first of five separate stories of conflict surrounding Jesus that will introduce various opponents of Jesus and of the early Christians. The opponents will move from admiration to hostility. Early Christians would have used these stories in defense of their practice of forgiveness, sharing the table with sinners, and the observance of the Sabbath.
The healing of the paralytic combines a healing and a debate with the scribes. The combination of these two events is to demonstrate that Jesus is powerful both in deed and in word. His power to forgive is confirmed by his power to heal the paralyzed man. There is a definite emphasis on the faith of the paralyzed man and his four friends that went to such trouble as to open a hole in the roof in order to reach Jesus. Jesus’ declaration that his “sins are forgiven” may not have been what the four men and the paralyzed wanted to hear. Linking the healing of an illness with sinfulness is an idea that Jesus rejected but was widely accepted by Israel in what some scholars call Deuteronomistic theology.
The scribes are the first of five groups that will oppose Jesus. According to OT passages (Exod 34:6-7; Isa 43:25; 44:22) the only one who forgives sins is God. According to the reasoning of the scribes, Jesus’ claim to forgive sins would thus qualify as blasphemy. Indeed, it does constitute a claim to divine authority. It certainly is easier to claim that sins are forgiven since no one could prove otherwise empirically. However, to validate his claim of forgiveness, Jesus heals the man, something that can empirically be proven and immediately. The fact that Jesus can heal by word alone is confirmation of his authoritative teaching. The statement “all were amazed” is taken to mean that all, including the scribes, were amazed at both Jesus’ healing power and his claim to forgive sins.
REFLECTION
Several years ago my family and I went through some of the most difficult times in our lives. In the course of 1 month we lost a thriving business and more importantly, my wife and I almost lost our son. I remember my reaction to all this very clearly and it’s probably the typical human reaction to adversity. What was my reaction? “Lord what have I done that you have cursed me in such a way?” This is the thought of many people who have faced hardships in their lives and this way of thinking has its origin in the years prior to Jesus’ ministry. It’s the type of thinking that has people believing that if they commit a sin God will curse them in any variety of ways that cause pain and suffering. What a horrible way to look at God!
Jesus is very aware of this and that’s why his first response to the paralyzed man in today’s Gospel is to forgive his sins but not to cure his illness. By doing this, he (Jesus) goes against the very fabric Judean of society. Everyone knew that only God can forgive sins, therefore if God forgave this man’s sins yet did not restore his health what does that say about the way we relate sin to suffering? For one thing, it removes the stigma attached to suffering. We can no longer believe that a person deserves to suffer for something a sin they have committed. It also demonstrates that when faith is placed in God’s mercy we will never be left wanting. The faith of the paralyzed man and his friends is evident in their desire to reach Jesus and in their actions – they made their way through the crowd (in fact, they went over the crowd and through the roof) despite the difficulty because they had faith in Jesus.
Humanity has a definite need to be healed. God is the source of all healing especially the healing that takes place in our soul. God offers us healing through his forgiveness, which we should all seek with the same faith and fervor as the paralyzed man and his friends from today’s Gospel. True forgiveness must be wanted and must be pursued with all our heart. God offers all of us his healing though his grace at reconciliation. When we are baptized our sins are “washed” away and this includes the sin of origin as well as personal sin. Yet, because we continue to sin God offers us his grace of forgiveness through the sacrament of reconciliation. We must keep in mind that only God forgives but Jesus assures us that this forgiveness is readily available to us through those whom he entrusted with this obligation: "As the Father sent me, so I send you ..... ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.’", “as the Father has sent me, so I send you” [Jn 20:21-23].
If we truly seek out forgiveness and do everything within our power to find it; if we change our lives so that it more closely follows that of Jesus Christ, God’s forgiveness will definitely be ours for the taking. When we approach the sacrament of reconciliation we encounter Jesus himself and his forgiveness, which wipes out our offense. Suffice it to say, that when we recognize our shortcomings and neediness before the Lord, we will draw strength and comfort from today’s liturgy that makes present to us God’s mercy.
Biblical Sources:
New American Bible; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Knight, G. A. E., “Servant Theology: Isaiah 40-55”; Stuhlmueller, C., “Creative Redemption in Deutero-Isaiah”; Seitz, C. (ed.) “Reading and Preaching the Book of Isaiah”; Murphy-O’ Connor, J., “St. Paul’s Corinth: Texts and Archaeology”; Theissen, G., “The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity: Essays on Corinth”; Schelkele, K. H., “The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians”; The Collegeville Bible Commentary; Kingsbury, J.D., “The Christology of Mark’s Gospel”; Schweizer, E, “The Good News According to Mark”; Tucket, C. (ed.), “The Messianic Secret”; Brown, Raymond E., S.S., “Introduction to the New Testament”; Brown, Fitzmyer, and Murphy (ed.) “The New Jerome Biblical Commentary.
Reflection:
Deacon Lazaro J. Ulloa