💖 HOMILY - JANUARY 12 💖

First Reading - 1 Samuel 8:4-7;10-22

Gospel - Mark 2:1-12

We all have a priority list, if not in a written form then certainly in our mind. We prioritize things and do them accordingly. Today the readings invite us to check if we have replaced God from our priority list with something else.

In the first reading, we hear about the demand of the people of Israel for a king. The people of Israel were directly ruled and governed by God. It was a theocracy where God was their king guiding them and ruling them through the judges. People, seeing the surrounding nations being ruled by a human king, demand from Samuel to anoint them a human king like other nations. It was a demand of replacement of God as their king for a human king, nevertheless God agrees to grant them their wish.

The gospel passage of the day has a beautiful episode of the healing of the paralytic on the one hand and Jesus asserting his power to forgive sins on the other hand. The healing of the paralytic entails a different scenario unlike other healing accounts by Jesus where the prospective person to be healed exhibits faith, here the people who bring the paralytic show a great faith in Jesus. It's on seeing the faith of those who brought the paralytic, Jesus forgives and heals the man. This particular pericope throws light on the effect of faith of the intercessor. God looks at the faith of a person and grants the wishes.

The second part of the healing episode contains the claim of Jesus to forgive sins. The Scribes who were watching every event heard very unusual thing pronounced by Jesus. It was about forgiveness of sins. Jesus forgives sins, which according to the Scribes, is the prerogative of God. Jesus asserts that he is vested with the authority to forgive and heal and demonstrates it by healing the paralytic.

Dear friends, this fact cannot be denied that the allurement of the world is beguiling and deceiving. The allurement of wealth, name, fame, recognition, position, and post etc. are certainly deceiving and can drive us crazy. There are number of instances where they have replaced God from the lives of people. Our craze for them can only lead us to our spiritual paralysis and transitory happiness. The gospel reminds us today that it's Jesus who can restore us from our spiritual paralysis by healing us spiritually and physically.

The gospel also reminds us of the power of the intercessory prayers, provided that issue from our faith. The gospel beautifully presents the account of the healing of the paralytic which was the result of the faith of those who brought the man to Jesus; in other words, they pleaded with Jesus for the healing of the man and Jesus responded to their prayer. This assures us that our prayers offered to Jesus in faith will always be answered by Him.

Finally, let's never be stuck with failures and sins because Jesus is willing to forgive and heal us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and He does it too in every celebration of the Eucharist. Let's never allow anything or anyone to replace God from our lives, hence God will continue to lead and guide us all throughout our lives.