February 19, 2012

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time 
Lectionary: 80

Reading 1 Is 43:18-19, 21-22, 24b-25

Thus says the LORD:
Remember not the events of the past,
the things of long ago consider not;
see, I am doing something new!
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
In the desert I make a way,
in the wasteland, rivers.
The people I formed for myself,
that they might announce my praise.
Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob,
for you grew weary of me, O Israel.
You burdened me with your sins,
and wearied me with your crimes.
It is I, I, who wipe out,
for my own sake, your offenses;
your sins I remember no more.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 41:2-3, 4-5, 13-14

R. (5b) Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.
Blessed is the one who has regard for the lowly and the poor;
in the day of misfortune the LORD will deliver him.
The LORD will keep and preserve him;
and make him blessed on earth,
and not give him over to the will of his enemies.
R. Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.
The LORD will help him on his sickbed,
he will take away all his ailment when he is ill.
Once I said, "O LORD, have pity on me;
heal me, though I have sinned against you."
R. Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.
But because of my integrity you sustain me
and let me stand before you forever.
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from all eternity. Amen. Amen.
R. Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.

Reading 2 2 Cor 1:18-22

Brothers and sisters:
As God is faithful,
our word to you is not "yes" and "no."
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ,
who was proclaimed to you by us, Silvanus and Timothy and me,
was not "yes" and "no, " but "yes" has been in him.
For however many are the promises of God, their Yes is in him;
therefore, the Amen from us also goes through him to God for glory.
But the one who gives us security with you in Christ
and who anointed us is God;
he has also put his seal upon us
and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.

Gospel Mk 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."

Scripture Study

This Sunday, the Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, the readings call us to consider our relationship with God and with His other children. The first reading calls our attention to our relationship to God. The people of Israel drew their very identity from their God and yet they failed to live up to their commitment to Him. In what ways can I be said to have wearied my God? What is He calling on me to abandon to the past. The second reading reassures us and also challenges us to add our own affirmation to the yes spoken by God and by Jesus. Each time I respond with, "yes Lord", it becomes easier the next time. The Gospel challenges me to consider the strength of my own faith and my own need for healing, and forgiveness. All of us fall far short of the perfection to which we are constantly being called by a Loving and Gracious God.

NOTES on First Reading:

*43:18-21 There is no need to limit our thoughts solely to the wonders of the past in the exodus from Egypt. God's works in the exodus from Babylon, which were underway as this was written, are equally great. The events yet to come will also be as great or even greater because God is always liberating and leading His people to the promised land of closeness to Him.

* 43:20, 23-24a These verses are included here for completeness but they are left out of the Lectionary reading.

* 43:22-28 The Israelites were liberated because of God's mercy not because of their fidelity.
This section is set very much in the language of a trial. Yahweh is the forceful savior of Israel. In contrast, Israel appears as the servant who has become a burden.

* 43:24 The sweet cane that is referred to is a fragrant substance commonly used in making incense and the sacred anointing oil of Exodus 30:23 and Jer 6:20.

* 43:25 God is moved to forgive us and cleanse us of our sins by His own love and mercy. He forgives us because of Who He is not because of who we are or of what we do. For our part, we must accept His forgiveness and respond to His love.

NOTES on Second Reading:

* 1:18-22 Paul is unable to deny the change in plans; nonetheless, he asserts the firmness of the original plan and claims a constancy in his life and work based on God himself, who is firm and reliable. This quality can also be seen in various ways in those who are associated with him. Christ, Paul, and the Corinthians all participate in analogous ways in the constancy of God. A number of the terms that are used here, which appear related only conceptually in Greek or English, would be variations of the same root, "mn," in a Semitic language, and thus naturally associated in a Semitic mind, such as Paul's. These include the words, yes (2 Cor 1:17-20), faithful (2 Cor 1:18), Amen (2 Cor 1:20), gives us security (2 Cor 1:21), faith, and stand firm (2 Cor 24).

* 1:21-22 Paul uses commercial terms such as security, seal, and first installment here, analogously, to refer to the process of initiation into the Christian life. He may have baptism in mind specifically. The passage is clearly Trinitarian. The Spirit is the first installment or "down payment" of the full messianic benefits that God guarantees to Christians. See Eph 1:13-14.

NOTES on Gospel:

* 2:1 The conflict with the Pharisees begins in earnest with chapter 2.

* 2:3-5 Four men brought their friend who was a paralytic to Jesus. They were unable to get near Jesus because of the great crowd of people around Him but were not willing to give up. Because they believed that Jesus could cure their friend, they went to all the trouble of climbing to the roof with the man on a mat and lower him through a hole that they made in the roof. Jesus looked to the faith of the man's friends and released the paralytic man from his sins first and then from his paralysis. It was the faith of his friends that save the man.

* 2:7 Jesus does not deny that Divine power is needed to forgive sin. He simply holds that He has that power. Further, He has the ability to give the power to forgive sin to His disciples. This is another example of Mark's showcasing of the authority of Jesus. Mat 9:8 emphasizes the authority of His followers to do the same thing that Jesus does here. The Sacrament of Reconciliation still shocks some people. Jesus always confronts the evil in the situations in which He finds Himself. Here, He addressed the sin in the paralytic's life first because it is far more serious than the man's physical condition. Jesus then heals the man to show that healing and forgiveness of sin are both within His power and authority.

* 2:10 "Son of Man" is Jesus' favorite expression for Himself, partly perhaps, because of its vagueness. It could mean simply a human. Jesus, however, is referring to the vision of Daniel in Dan 7:13-14. Ezekiel 2:1- 3:3 presents the term used in commissioning an agent of God or prophet.

Meditation: "We never saw anything like this!"

 Do you know the healing power of forgiveness and reconciliation? Jesus' treatment of sinners upset the religious teachers of the day. When a cripple was brought to Jesus because of the faith of his friends, Jesus did the unthinkable. He first forgave the man his sins. The scribes regarded this as blasphemy because they understood that only God had authority to forgive sins and to unbind a man from his burden of guilt. Jesus claimed an authority which only God could rightfully give. Jesus not only proved that his authority came from God, he showed the great power of God's redeeming love and mercy by healing the cripple of his physical ailment. This man had been crippled not only physically, but spiritually as well. Jesus freed him from his burden of guilt and restored his body as well. The Lord is every ready to bring us healing of soul, body, and mind. Do you allow anything to keep you from Jesus?

Clement of Alexandria, a 3rd century church father comments on this passage: “The physician’s art, according to Democritus, heals the diseases of the body; wisdom frees the soul from its obsessions. But the good Instructor, Wisdom, who is the Word of the Father who assumed human flesh, cares for the whole nature of his creature. The all-sufficient Physician of humanity, the Savior, heals both body and soul conjointly. ‘Stand up,’ he commanded the paralytic; ‘take the bed on which you lie, and go home’; and immediately the paralytic received strength.” Do you look to the Lord with expectant faith for wholeness of body, mind, and soul?

"Lord Jesus, through your merciful love and forgiveness you bring healing and restoration to body, soul, and mind. May your healing power and love touch every area of my life – my innermost thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and memories. Pardon my offences and transform me in the power of your Holy Spirit that I may walk confidently in your truth and righteousness."

February 19
St. Conrad of Piacenza
(1290-1350)

Born of a noble family in northern Italy, Conrad as a young man married Euphrosyne, daughter of a nobleman.

One day while hunting he ordered attendants to set fire to some brush in order to flush out the game. The fire spread to nearby fields and to a large forest. Conrad fled. An innocent peasant was imprisoned, tortured to confess and condemned to death. Conrad confessed his guilt, saved the man’s life and paid for the damaged property.
Soon after this event, Conrad and his wife agreed to separate: she to a Poor Clare monastery and he to a group of hermits following the Third Order Rule. His reputation for holiness, however, spread quickly. Since his many visitors destroyed his solitude, Conrad went to a more remote spot in Sicily where he lived 36 years as a hermit, praying for himself and for the rest of the world.
Prayer and penance were his answer to the temptations that beset him. Conrad died kneeling before a crucifix. He was canonized in 1625.

Comment:

Francis of Assisi was drawn both to contemplation and to a life of preaching; periods of intense prayer nourished his preaching. Some of his early followers, however, felt called to a life of greater contemplation, and he accepted that. Though Conrad of Piacenza is not the norm in the Church, he and other contemplatives remind us of the greatness of God and of the joys of heaven.

Quote:

Pope Paul VI’s 1969 Instruction on the Contemplative Life includes this passage: "To withdraw into the desert is for Christians tantamount to associating themselves more intimately with Christ’s passion, and it enables them, in a very special way, to share in the paschal mystery and in the passage of Our Lord from this world to the heavenly homeland" (#1).