WHO ARE YOU IN THE

BIBLE STORY?

      “Run, run, run!” That was something my football coach always shouted to me when I used to play in the team. I was a midfielder, which meant that I had to constantly run towards the opponent’s goal and then run back again to defend our goal. But sometimes I’d be lazy to run back and defend, giving our opponent an opening to score.

       In today’s Gospel story, there were also a number of characters that played different roles: Jesus, the crowd, the paralytic man, his friends, and the scribes.

       Years ago, I failed my team by not running back to defend our goal. I invite you to think about your life today. Are you a scribe who judges people? Are you the paralyzed man who has a lot of problems? Are you the friend who gives hope to others? Or are you like Jesus who makes miracles in this world?

       I exhort you to be more than what you are today. Be like Jesus or the friend of the paralytic man. JPaul Hernandez (jpaulmh@yahoo.com)

Reflection:How ready are you to truly change your life for the better?

Father, I thank You for the opportunity to be a new person. Thank You for not judging me. I pray for the strength to sincerely transform my life. Amen.

St. Hilary, bishop and doctor of the Church, pray for us.

As Christians, we have the same goal – eternal life. To reach this goal, we must work with one another and not against each other. Conversion is always a call to live in a community. We cannot live the fullness of our faith, even our human life, without other people. Let us build relationships with one another that will last.

1 Let us be on our guard while the promise of entering into his rest remains, that none of you seem to have failed. 2 For in fact we have received the Good News just as our ancestors did. But the word that they heard did not profit them, for they were not united in faith with those who listened. 3 For we who believed enter into that rest, just as he has said: As I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter into my rest,” and yet his works were accomplished at the foundation of the world. 4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this manner, And God rested on the seventh day from all his works; 5 and again, in the previously mentioned place, They shall not enter into my rest. 11 Therefore, let us strive to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall after the same example of  disobedience.

R: Do not forget the works of the Lord!

3 What we have heard and know, and what our fathers have declared to us, 4 we will declare to the generation to come: The glorious deeds of the Lord and his strength. (R) 6 That they too may rise and declare to their sons 7 that they should put their hope in God, and not forget the deeds of God but keep his commands. (R) 8 And not be like their fathers, a generation wayward and rebellious, a generation that kept not its heart steadfast nor its spirit faithful toward God. (R)

The friends of the paralytic knew that Jesus could heal their friend so they did everything to get him to Jesus. Are we committed in evangelizing our family and friends? This kind of deep faith is what we need in sharing the Gospel with others.

A great prophet has arisen in our midst and God has visited his people.

1 When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. 2 Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 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. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, 7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?” 8 Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth” — 11 he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” 12 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.”

think: How determined are we to bring others to Jesus? What do we do so that others will come to know Him?

Read the Bible in one year  Matthew 14-18

T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST

thank You, Lord, for: ______________________________________________________

WHAT HAVE YOU BECOME?

In the Gospel today, Jesus heals a paralytic. It may look no different from the many healing accounts in the Gospels. But this one has a striking peculiarity. The first thing that Jesus said to the paralytic was, “Child, your sins are forgiven” (v. 5). Only after that did Jesus heal the man from his physical malady. The statement, “Your sins are forgiven,” is an indication and indirect declaration of Jesus’ divine prerogative as the scandalized teachers of the law protested, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (v. 7).

       Besides an allusion to His divinity, the message of Jesus is plain and simple. More than physical malady, sin also has a way of paralyzing us. Like the accumulated and hardened cholesterol that blocks the free passage of life-giving blood through our arteries, sin blocks the passage of charity in our lives, rendering us paralyzed and immobile in front of the Christian summon to love the other.

       Sin also has a way of isolating us. St. Augustine describes a man mired in self-indulgence as curvatus in se, Latin for “caved in on oneself.” When one is in this state, the ego is paralyzed from surfacing. One is covered with filth, muck and grime. The image of God within us is prevented from shining through.

       This is the logic of Jesus’ invitation to self-denial. It is not a denial of who we are, for who we really are is good. Rather, it is an invitation to deny who we have become because of accumulated sin that has disfigured what was originally good and beautiful. For sure, Jesus wanted the paralytic to be healed. But He addressed the greater paralysis of sin that disfigures the image of God within.

       A couple wanted to know what their daughter wanted to be when she grows up. The father asked, “What will you do when you grow big like your mom?” The child responded, “I will diet.”

       Friends, it’s time to enrol in the Kingdom’s fitness center. Let us begin the daily exercise of self-denial, discipline and charity. Let us also begin to shed off the pounds of self-indulgence, die to our self a little each day, so that the image of God in us may shine forth for all the world to see. Fr. Joel Jason

---------- REFLECTION QUESTION ----------

When was the last time you availed of the sacrament of confession?

Dearest Lord, help me to see what I have become because of my sinfulness and weaknesses. Allow me to go back to the person You have created me to be. Amen.