When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days

[Mary Naeem]

Father Knows Best
Father Michael A. Sisco
Jesus and the Paralyzed Man, by Darlene Slavujac Thau, used with permission. View website on this link.
A Reflection on 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 him, “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.” (Mark 2: 1-12)
“Father Knows Best.” I have a vague recollection of that show in the early seventies. It was sandwiched between “My Three Sons” and “Leave it To Beaver.” And I think the plot was almost always the same; there was always some little family problem, actually a minuscule problem by 21st century standards; and Dad always had the right solution, the right answer, the right thing to say, and all family crises were resolved in thirty minutes, including commercials.
I often wonder what that paralytic’s reaction was when Jesus told him his sins were forgiven. If he was anything like me, his reaction would have been, “Oh crud! I’m hot, I’m tired. My friends come and tell me about a miracle worker who can make me walk. They carry me from another village. We can’t get in. They hoist me on the roof and cut a hole in the roof to lower me down. He’s walking over. I think to myself, ‘This is it!’ And he tells me my sins are forgiven.”
We don’t deal with disappointment well. That’s because we’re always trying to inflict our plan on God, instead of trying to find out what God’s plan is for us. The Pharisees are a classic example. They knew what THEY wanted in a Messiah. They had THEIR plan. But Jesus didn’t meet their qualifications, even after he proves over and over again that he MUST be from God.
And so often we are no different. We still want things our way. I was all ready to be ordained a priest on May 31st 1997. Plans were made. A month before the ceremony I got a call from the vocations director. He said, “Mike, I don’t how to tell you this, but the date of the ordination has been changed to June14th.” My reaction, “Oh crud!” On the outside I was smiling, “That’s OK, Father. A-Ha Ha. I understand. A-ha ha. These things happen. Ha Ha Ha.” But in my mind, I was having less charitable thoughts. And what was I worried about; rebooking a hall, a photographer? Little stuff, not worth getting upset about. But we get upset with disappointment.
Jesus knew what he was doing when he first told that paralytic his sins were forgiven. Because that was the real miracle. What is there in healing the body? Let’s be honest. Is their any one of us who can claim their body has no defects? Aren’t we always too fat, too thin, too tall, too short? We paint the face, and color the hair, read up on Rogaine so we can get back our receding hairline. We buy the latest miracle diets, call Jenny Craig, renew memberships at the gym.
In a previous assignment, I visited a beautiful eighteen year old girl, a parishioner where I was stationed, who was in Rhode Island Hospital, -- for anorexia. I visited this same young lady that previous summer for the same thing. She thought she was too fat for the world, too fat for her friends, too fat to attract a boyfriend, and she was a beautiful, beautiful young woman.
I remember a statistic from about ten years ago. It said that, in that particular year, teenage girls spent an excess of 80 billion dollars on cosmetics and cosmetic surgery, and the bulk of that money was spent on breast augmentation. Teenage girls! Shame on us! We teach our girls the most important thing is to look sexy. We teach our boys to use steroids to enhance their bodies because the most important thing for boys is to win. Girls have to look hot, and boys have to win. That’s what makes you worth anything in our culture today. Look at what our obsession with the body has driven our children to!
What is healing a defect in the body, compared to bringing a dead soul to life? You tell me what the real miracle was! Our Church abounds with miracles! You don’t have to go to Medjugorje! You don’t have to see apparitions! You want to see a miracle? Receive communion. Go to confession. Witness a baptism. These are miracles, because they bring life to the soul. The body is almost trivial by comparison. Yet whenever we have a little ache or pain, whenever we have a little disappointment, we moan, never considering that maybe God is trying to use that tiny suffering to bring a soul to him.
Jesus did heal the paralytic’s body, but first he healed his soul, because that was more important. So instead of complaining when we have to endure our little crosses, why don’t we resolve to offer our sufferings, trials and disappointments to the Lord, to help bring about his plan, because truly, our eternal Father knows best.
And blessed be God forever.
--Father Michael Anthony Sisco, Visitor to the Confraternity of Penitents