St. Benedict's Monastery, Arcadia
Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR B SEVENTH SUNDAY - 19.2.06 Is 43,18-19.21-22.24-25; 2 Cor 1,18-22; Mk 2,1-12 No Healing Without Forgiveness The
most important lesson so far! Mark has written his Gospel in 7 Sections, each structured into a
number of Lessons & both the Sections & the Lessons are arranged in
Mark’s typical abrupt, concentric system of ‘Lesson Plans’. Today’s
story is about “A paralytic who is forgiven & healed”. Mark places it at
the very centre of 9 concentric lessons, which constitute “Part One:
Jesus’ preaching & Teaching in Galilee” (1,21-28 \\ 1,29-39 \1,40-45 \\ 2,1-12 \\ 2.13-17 \2,18-22 \\ 2,23-28 \\ 3,1-6). Looking at this arrangement, Mark wants us to pay
careful attention to today’s lesson, since it contains the controlling
thought of all he has taught about Jesus so far & will teach in the next
4 lessons: yes, there’s no total healing without forgiveness. After this, Mark
will use the lesson about total cure of the whole person to introduce the theme
of conflict & failure. Sadly & irrevocably the Jesus’ opponents first,
then the crowds & then the disciples will all fail to understand Jesus’
Mission, which is summed up in today’s Lesson: without forgiveness -given
& received- there is no well-being, & no salvation. Skilfully, today’s
story is about paralysis, a decease that (as its Greek noun spells out: para =
all over & lyo = loosened), takes away the ability to contract, stretch or
move our muscles, & makes us totally unable to do what we want -or ought.
Today, we are asked to take Jesus’ words: “your sins are forgiven” as they
sit abruptly in the story, and ask questions: what did the man in the Gospel
feel, how did such words address his total being, how can forgiveness have much
to do with his paralysis, & what about the faith of the ‘four men’ who
lowered him from the roof, why do such an unusual thing? how did they feel?... Need
for total well-being. Today
as we read, we believe that Jesus’words: ‘your sins are forgiven!’ are
also for us. So, what are they saying to our total well-being? In many ways we
are not different from people of ancient cultures, who believed that in some
uncanny way, our physical, emotional & spiritual illness (or malaise) is a
result of the wrongs (& sins) we commit. When we are sick, we blame
ourselves, & treat us as both physically sick & morally suspect! We,
like the paralytic of the Gospel, need to forgive ourselves & forgive
others, in order to experience the unconditional forgiveness of our loving God. In the logic of today’s Gospel, total cure includes peace of mind
& forgiveness. As long as we stay locked in our staunch, pharisaical
understandings & judgments of right & wrong, it is impossible to forgive
or experience forgiveness, just as it was for the people in the story, who ended
up being the real ‘paralytic’: people who were totally unable to move into
what they ought. In the midst of our paralysis, caused in us by hurts, illnesses
or misfortunes, we all long for healing & need healing. But at times we fail
to understand that the deepest level of healing is experienced in giving &
receiving forgiveness from God & one another: only then we have peace of
mind & total well-being. Like the paralytic, we too need to forgive
ourselves, to feel forgiven, to accept what we are, including our inabilities
& failures & to accept others as they are, with their mix of good &
bad. And we all need help. No matter how much we long for total well-being, we
can’t achieve it by ourselves. Without the action of his friends, the
paralyzed man would have had no chance to come to Jesus. We too need the action,
example & encouragement of other people to create for us an ‘opening’ to
meet our forgiving Lord. Our prayer for
this week is from the Psalms: Lord heal my soul, for I have sinned
against you. ______________________________________ |
