The Logic of Jesus Is Different to The Logic of The World
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
On the fifth Sunday of the blessed season of Lent, our mother the Church calls us to reflect on the story of the paralysed man, his four mates and their community which was gathered around Jesus. Through this story, we come to know the true essence of grace: every touch of mercy in our lives is a call for repentance. Through repentance, the soul is healed. Healing the soul is required before healing the body.
The Gospel of the paralysed man has a special place in the liturgical memory of the Church. It is the passage that focusses more than any other Sunday passages during lent on the Sacrament of Penance. In fact, is there a lent without repentance and confession?
The fruit of good repentance is forgiveness, getting rid of sins and debts, boundless peace and joy toward God and the human. Who does not experience a wonderful inner peace and an indescribable joy when practising this sacrament? The closer we are to God, the more we become aware of our sin and of the greatness of the Sacrament of Penance. The farther we are from God, the weaker is our awareness of our sin. The distance between us and God reduces the level of confrontation necessary to discern our situation and
scrutinise it.
The confession, for which the Church has rites, holds celebrations and calls to practice it, stressing its importance on every occasion is a call for transformation from what is visible to the invisible. When the soul is healed, it leads to the Kingdom of God, while the body, even after being endowed with the grace of healing, will relapse one day and wear off.
How moving was the scene of the crowds gathered around Jesus, overflowing that place where he was. But He is here too in the confessional with all His mercy! How lovely would it be to see the confessionals similarly overcrowded by all of us, clergy and lay, people, like the situation in Capernaum where the four men lowered down their paralytic friend to bring him to Jesus.
Is it not strange what the paralytic’s four friends did? They challenged all difficulties and lowered him down from the roof, as one united group, as if they were interacting with the gifts of the Holy Spirit without realising it! As usual, the Lord Jesus surprised them and went far beyond what they were asking for. His logic is different from that of the world. He goes to the essence: “your sins are forgiven.” But to demonstrate to the crowd that his authority to forgive sins is authentic, he made the paralytic stand up before them.
How about you? Would you go beyond what people ask from you? Do you know how to read what is beyond the direct need? Do we realise that behind every request, the question is: “do you love me?” Do you know that love is the only need for all people? And if you have experienced the peace and joy of the Sacrament of Penance and touched by this love, why do you not take it to others? Why do you not proclaim the source of this love around you and bring those who are far, those who have been paralysed by sin, to the confessional as the paralytic’s friends did so they can heal?
Come, do not be late! The Lord is waiting.
