Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

As we approach the season of Lent, there is something particularly timely about this Sunday’s Liturgy of the Word. The thrust of the first reading from the prophet Isaiah and the gospel passage from Mark is the forgiveness of sins and a new beginning before God. Speaking through the prophet, almighty God declares that the past is indeed past, and with their sins graciously forgiven, a new future opens up for his people. God overlooks their waywardness and wrongdoing and does not hold their sins against them. The words of Isaiah prepare us for the remarkable story of Jesus and the paralytic man in the gospel when, in response to faith, mercy and healing are immediately offered. We are presented here with a picture of the divine compassion in action.

At first sight, the declaration of Jesus to the paralytic that his sins were forgiven might surprise us. Yet the Lord by highlighting the man’s sins before addressing his physical disability is teaching us a most important lesson. The man’s moral illness was just as much in need of healing as his bodily ailment. A deep-rooted sickness lies in the human heart which can be more damaging and as far reaching in its consequences than any sickness of the body. Sacred Scripture, followed by the tradition of the Church, calls this condition ‘sin’. This is the disease that divides us within ourselves, separates us from God and from our fellow human beings. The tragedies and vast sufferings which afflict our world often have their roots in this selfishness and evil inclination arising in the human heart. Christ in this gospel story reveals his mission as Messiah and Saviour, and the true healer of humanity. With good reason the Fathers of the Church often speak of him as the Good Samaritan. He goes on to demonstrate his divine power to forgive sins by restoring the paralytic to health. Only he, as the Son of God and Son of Mary, can do this.

The Lenten call to repentance and conversion invites us to turn to the Saviour for forgiveness and a new beginning. Our sins must not stand in the way. All he asks of us is our faith.

+Michael Campbell OSA

Coadjutor Bishop of Lancaster