Fr. Jeff’s Weekly Homily

February 19, 2006

READING 1: Isaiah 43:18-19, 21-22, 24b-25
See, I am doing something new!

Psalm 41
Lord, heal my soul for I have sinned against you

READING 2: 2 Corinthians 1:18-22
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ..was not “yes” and ,“No” but “yes”…

GOSPEL: Mark 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.”

If you had been in that house so long ago and seen the paralyzed man being placed before Jesus, what would you have been thinking? We are told that Jesus, in his head, knew the thoughts in the hearts of the Scribes. In the head, there is only objective reality. Reality simply is. But Jesus said it is not what is outside us but evil comes from within our hearts. What would Jesus know about your heart as he forgave the paralytic?

Jesus came with a mission. He told his neighbors what his mission was on the first visit to the synagogue in Capernaum . He came to set prisoners free, to bring good news to the poor. He set the paralytic free by telling him the “Good News.” Another way of saying that “your sins are forgiven,” is to say that “your heart is good.” Your heart matters to God. Think about that: Your heart is good. Your heart matters to God. Try to hold onto to that thought for even a day.

A dad gets up early in the morning and quietly gets ready and decides to give his wife a morning to sleep in. He wakes the kids up, fixes their breakfast and their lunches and takes the kids to school. He is thinking that this is a good thing. Then on the way to school, he and his daughter get into an argument. They are still arguing when she gets out and slams the car door. As he drives off, he has that nagging sense of, “Well, I really blew that one!” If his heart goes, “Yeah, you really did”—without taking the issue to Jesus, then it could get worse. “You are always blowing it with her.” Then he starts to beat himself up: “No matter how hard I try, I mess things up. I don’t understand these kids, I’d be better off staying with what I know at work. Let my wife handle the kids.” Keep this up and your good start turns into a lousy day. You know how it goes. After a while, you just live under a cloud and accept it as normal.

Jesus came to set you free. Your heart is good. Your heart matters to God. As St. Paul tells us today, Jesus Christ is not “yes,” and “no”; but Jesus Christ is “YES!” Yes, all the time. Hold onto that in you heart; remember that; that means YES TO YOU. Do you find that liberating? Or do you hear the same voice in your heart that the scribes heard: “blasphemy”? Welcome to our daily battle.

We have an enemy you know and the enemy has been attacking humans for a long time; he knows exactly how to get to us. Do you know that any movement toward freedom and life, any movement toward God or others, especially any movement toward your own true self will be opposed. Your marriage will be opposed, your friendships will be opposed, beauty will be opposed, kindness and thoughtfulness will be opposed, and love will be opposed. Jesus said that the thief comes to steal and destroy but Jesus comes to give life, life in abundance.

Oh, those scribes weren’t such terrible guys, they were in fact quite normal. The story of our lives is the story of a long and brutal assault on our hearts by the one who knows what we could be and fears it.

There was a New Yorker cartoon with an enormously formidable woman on the arm of a tiny little man, standing outside church and saying to the priest, with a hint of distain, “And just when do you expect that the meek will inherit the earth?” Of course, we know that we could ask the same cynical question. We don’t see the meek, the little guy getting anything. The meek don’t come to UF for example; they go to Georgia or Mississippi State .

But by Jesus standards, we are the meek. We who listen to the intimidating voice telling our hearts that we are not alright; paralyzing us with our insecurities; putting us down, blocking our way. The enemy steals our freedom, makes us afraid, Jesus tells us, “do not be afraid.” The good news is that your heart is good. Your heart matters to God. You are worth dying for. “They were all astonished,” the Gospel tells us, “they had never seen anything like this.” Try to hold onto it this week when those negative thoughts come into your mind and heart. Win the battle for your freedom this week by accepting the freedom only Jesus gives. Remember the Good News! Jesus is not “yes” and “no”; Jesus is a resounding YES! A “yes” to YOU! Can I have an “Amen!”?

Fr. Jeff McGowan
Queen of Peace Catholic Community
Gainesville, Florida