Something New

February 19, 2012

Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time 2012 B

By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ

Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new! Isaiah 43:18-19

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." Mark 2:4-5

Piety

Our piety carries people to the Lord. How much trouble we are willing to go through for the sake of bringing another to the Lord? All too often it is not something we can do alone. Our piety enlists the help of others to bring a sinner to the Lord. How we reach out to each other in the name of the Lord is also important. If all I do is sensible, I am not bringing all that many to the Lord. If I am willing to go through disgrace and outrage for the sake of bringing another to the healing of the Lord, I am close to being the same type of “Yes” to God that Christ was. Christ came to bring the Good News of his Fathers love for all of us. We are the Good News of God when we claim the promises of God for all our family and friends. The miracles of Christ called attention to the Good News.” Breaking open the ceiling tile to lower another into the presence of the Lord might seem foolish to some. But it is the foolishness of piety. Piety goes out of its way to bring the Good News of God’s love for the world to all that we can approach. Piety finds the way to reach Christ.

Study

We study how to make our “Yes” to Christ a real yes. It is hard to get rid of the “maybe” of our life and transform it into a clear, unequivocal “yes” to Christ. But study allows us to see where we are hedging our yeses to the Lord. All the things that God promised in the Old Testament find the fullness of their “Yes” in Christ. God has anointed us in Christ. The Spirit of the Lord in us is the ultimate “Yes” of God’s love in us and living our lives in love gives the reality of God’s “Yes” to the world. We are part of God’s love in Christ and our “yeses” make us over into his children.

Action

Bringing others to Christ is the action called for by the story of the Gospel of the paralytic brought to Christ. There are people in our lives who will not find Christ and are unable to reach him unless we are willing to bring them to Christ. Who is the person in our family we need to reach out to in his name? Who is the co-worker that is waiting to be asked? Who is the fallen away Christian waiting for the helping hand that only we can bring in our desire to bring another to Christ? No one can deserve God’s love. All can be brought to God’s love by our willingness to carry them into his presence. St. Francis is reputed to have said. “Preach always and occasionally use a word.” Our carrying others to Christ happens by our willingness to let Christ out from the prison of our hearts. Our “Yeses” to Christ allow us to become fully alive to our world.