Thursday – 13th Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Matthew 9:1-8

A Helping Hand

Outside Old City, Jerusalem

 A woman came up to me after Mass on Sunday and proceeded to thank me for my sermon from 2 weeks earlier – God is calling (cellphone) – do we answer!  She remarked that she had brought a group of high schoolers with her that Sunday and they apparently got the message loud and clear!  And she wanted to thank me!  And it made my day!

That’s how it is!  Sometimes all it takes is just a few words to brighten someone else’s day!  What you think is a simple gesture can be a miracle, a kindness, to someone else!

That is what happens with the paralytic in today’s Gospel.  He never would have encountered Jesus without the help of others.  A simple act of kindness - carrying him to Jesus– and look at the results!  Most often when we hear this story, we focus on the paralyzed man.  But let’s change our perspective. The only way he meets Jesus, the only way he has the opportunity to be cured, is because of the kindness of others.  He can do nothing for himself.  He has to rely on others to bring him to Jesus.  That calls for a very healthy dose of compassion and of faith.  Sickness back then was a sign of sin; you avoided that person so you wouldn’t get “infected”.  And yet people carried him to Jesus out of compassion for his suffering and out of an obvious faith that Jesus would cure him.

So when Jesus “saw their faith”, it wasn’t just the paralytic’s faith He was observing; it was the people who carried him to Jesus!  As we continue to recover from the pandemic, we are all in some way still hurting.  Maybe it’s the pain of a loss of income or even our job.  Maybe it’s the pain of a parent dealing with our kids’ stress and depression.  Maybe it’s the sadness of missing what used to be so normal and easy – going to the store for groceries, taking a walk or answering the door.  Or we worry when we get a cough or our muscles start to ache.  We are all still suffering.  We all in some way need healing and comfort.  We are all still looking for that kind word or gesture!

You don’t have to look too far to see that.  Are we just going to ignore the pain of others today?  Are we just going to walk on by and avoid eye contact?  Or are we going to stop and lend a helping hand or offer a word of comfort out of compassion and out of a deep faith in the Creator!

Great Spirit, I pray today that you awaken us to the needs of others and to find a way to brighten their day!  I pray that you awaken us to what we should be doing for others!

 

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