Friday of Week One in Ordinary Time
When Jesus saw their faith, he said
to him, 'Child, your sins are forgiven.'
A few days ago I was talking about this parable
with a friend; we each had different reasons for it being our current
“favorite”. For her it was the universal
understanding of what it feels like to be emotionally paralyzed in one way or
another. Paralyzed by our inability to
control a situation or an outcome.
Paralyzed by fear of failure.
Paralyzed by ----fill in the blank----.
And for me, at least this morning, it is Jesus taking account of a small
faith community doing what it takes to un-paralyze a loved one. Jesus saw their faith, he saw a community of
concern and care. He saw one person’s
struggle being taken up by all. And the
fact that forgiveness comes first and then the physical healing universalizes
this for me. I am not physically
paralyzed. I am paralyzed by
un-forgiven-ness more often than I realize.
I need the commitment of the other’s prayer and concern. And they need mine. And Jesus sees and forgives.
Several years ago I wrote this litany of
paralysis…of offended and offender…for a parish communal reconciliation service…there
is something about that communal space…I’m never sure if I’m working to break
open the roof tiles or if I’m the one being lowered…I suppose I’m always a
little of both:
Lord, I am paralyzed by disappointment…time after time when I
dare to expect more…it fails to come.
Life is so unfair…Come to my aid
Lord, I am so quick to make promises and
quick to break them…I convince myself that what I don’t do can’t be that important…my failures don’t
really hurt anyone else…teach me
Lord, I am rejected. My
life is empty …I am not enough for anybody…the rejection is so painful…I am
paralyzed by it…Come and stay with me
Lord, How quickly I judge another’s
worth…praising their good looks and talents and smarts. Help me to see freshly, not through my
blurred vision but through yours…seeing what you see: Sons and Daughters of God
Lord, I am paralyzed by humiliation…I have been pierced at my
very core…I lock myself in a prison of protection…release me
Lord, I have so easily given up on
people…leaving them alone in their pain and emptiness…Change me
Lord…How abandoned and alone I am. Where are my friends? Where are you? I can’t hold back my rising bitterness and
resentment…Find me
Lord, How convenient is my
forgetfulness…How easy it is, in my IMPORTANT busyness, to put so many
relationships on the back shelf…where not even my second thoughts go. Break into my life and awaken in me the
ministry of listening
Lord…I am ridiculed and laughed at…Oh the names they
shout…they play over and over in my mind…these words…they kill…I am
paralyzed…Raise me up
Lord, Lead me away from the maddening
crowd that knows itself only in relation to those it rejects and scorns. Strengthen me to stand with the one left
out…the one most in need of your loving presence
Lord, I have no home and I am so hungry…I hang on by only a
sliver of hope…don’t let it break
Lord, Shake me up, release me from the
grip of luxury and comfort and teach me the language of poverty and hunger
Lord, My world is overcome with violence…family abuse, sexual
abuse, gangs and war…I know no other way…show me a way
Lord, You call the peacemakers
“Blessed”…give me the faith to speak your Word of peace…everyday and every
where that I encounter building resentment and mounting tensions
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