(Optional Memorial for the First Holy Martyrs of Rome)
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| “Christ Healing the Paralytic” by Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini, 1730-32 |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Amos 7:10-17
Commentary on Am 7:10-17
This selection shows the tension between prophet (Amos) and priest (Amaziah). The latter takes Amos’ words out of context and distorts them into what appears to be an attack on the king. As a consequence, Amos is expelled from Bethel (the national sanctuary of the northern kingdom), and would no longer be providing guidance to King Jeroboam II as “court visionary” or prophet.
In reply to the savage rebuke of the high priest, Amos lists his credentials. He denounces the professional prophets, and disclaims any connection with them. Amos had no interest in being a prophet for the purpose of earning money. “[He was] a dresser of sycamores: This insipid fruit, which grows especially in the lowlands of Palestine, is related to, but smaller than, the fig; it was the food of the poor.”[4]
Amos has the last word (v.17). He gives Amaziah the dooming prophecy for the king and his family. The reference to death “in an unclean land” is a reference to Assyria.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 11
R. (10cd) The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.
Commentary on Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11
Psalm 19 is a hymn of praise. In this passage, we give praise to God’s gift of the Law which guides us in our daily lives. The hymn also extols the virtue of obedience and steadfastness to the Law and its precepts. The passage also reflects the idea that following God’s statutes leads to peace and prosperity.
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Gospel: Matthew 9:1-8
Commentary on Mt 9:1-8
Jesus continues his saving works in the healing of the paralytic. The leaders of the synagogue hear Jesus forgive the man’s sins, which in their thinking caused the man’s affliction (cf. John 9:1-3), and could only be taken away by God (cf. Luke 5:21). To demonstrate that he was from God, and acting for God, Jesus took away, not only the man’s sins, but what the scribes believed were the consequences of those sins, his paralysis. The crowds, if not the scribes, immediately understood and gave thanks to God for his mercy.
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Reflection:
Jesus first forgives the sins of a young paralytic then he heals him, in the Gospel for today. In Hebrew thought, these two actions are linked. It was the Jewish belief that if something terrible happened, like being paralyzed, it was because the person did something wrong, sinned against God. They believed that God, in retribution, caused the affliction. This belief did not just attach to the one afflicted either; it attached to the whole of the person’s family, including extended family.
So, by saying first: “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven,” Jesus demonstrated that he spoke with the authority of God, since only God could forgive one so afflicted. That is why the Scribes who were present were thinking that Jesus was blaspheming.
It got better though. Jesus, sensing the thoughts of the Scribes, demonstrated that he could not only forgive sins, but also remove the outward signs of interior sin when he says:
Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
But that you may know that the Son of Man
has authority on earth to forgive sins”—
he then said to the paralytic,
“Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”
He rose and went home.
or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
But that you may know that the Son of Man
has authority on earth to forgive sins”—
he then said to the paralytic,
“Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”
He rose and went home.
No one present missed the revelation. Only God could forgive sins, and the outward sign of that sin was the paralysis. Jesus first removed the cause, then the effect, in the eyes of the witnesses.
This revelation is very important to us. Christ has told us that sin does not result in immediate and physical punishment from God as the Jews believed. The Lord’s coming changed that forever. He delivered us from sin and death. Jesus starts us on our journey of faith in the forgiving bath of Baptism, where all sins are washed away. He strengthens us with the gift of the Holy Spirit and adopts us as his children.
Through his gift to Peter of the Keys of the Kingdom, he has passed on to his Holy Church the faculty to continue his loving forgiveness in the sacrament of Reconciliation. He has permanently removed the source of our temporal pain and disfigurement as a consequence of sin.
Finally, again through the gift of the sacraments, he has provided us with the instrument of healing in the Anointing of the Sick, again removing barriers to God and the Kingdom of Heaven.
Indeed, today’s Gospel is an important one for us. We see in it our own salvation. The only price we are asked to pay is, faith and love of him who loves us.
Pax
[1] The picture is “Christ Healing the Paralytic” by Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini, 1730-32
[4] See Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 14:34, pp. 251.
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