Sunday: Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. Date: February 23, 2003 Year: B The readings: [Is. 43:18-19, 20-22, 24-25; 2 Cor. 1:18-22; Mk. 2:1-12] The message: The forgiveness of sins by faith. Prepared by: CATHOLIC DOORS MINISTRY Total words: 2338 |
Click here for the Index of all the Homilies
Welcome my brothers and sisters in Christ, beloved children of God, to today's celebration of the Holy Mass. By the power of the Holy Spirit, may the grace of our Heavenly Father and the love of our Lord Jesus Christ be bestowed upon you as you hear the Word of God that has been given to us to richly nourish the soul.
Today, I shall talk to you about the powerful mystery of faith. I shall explain to you how your faith in Jesus Christ leads towards salvation and the eternal beatific vision of God. While your living faith in Jesus Christ makes you righteous in the eyes of God, it is necessary to understand how and why. Such faith is only a stepping stone towards salvation and the eternal Kingdom of God.
During the First Reading from the Book of Isaiah, [Is. 43:18-19, 20-22, 24-25] we heard that the Lord God said, 'Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.' [Is. 43:18] When the Lord God spoke these Sacred Words, He was commanding His children to set aside the ways of the past in order to open the door to a better future. A new Exodus was about to begin. This reference was not to a physical Exodus as when Moses led the people of God to the promised land. It was a reference to a spiritual Exodus, Jesus leading the children of God towards the spiritual Kingdom.
In those Words was revealed that the days of animal sacrifices were coming to an end. The sacrificing of animals as guilt or sin offerings for the forgiveness of sins was becoming a thing of the past. In a way, it was a good thing! Can you imagine with one billion Catholics in the world today, if we all had to make a monthly sacrifice for our sins? That would represent the sacrificing of twelve billion animals per year!
God continued by saying through the prophet Isaiah that He was going to do something new. Something new is something different. As we know from modern technology, when something new is invented, it is supposed to be better, more convenient. It replaces the old. The cars replaced the horses and the wooden wagons. The washing machines replaced hand washing and scrubbing. Electric stoves replaced wooden stoves. Now, these are new things.
The Lord God asked the people, "do you not perceive it?" [Is. 43:18] Being worldly in their ways, unless the people embraced a spiritual heart, they could not see the Divine Plan of God that was developing.
The Lord God also stated prophetic Words, "I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." [Is. 43:18] These prophetic Words parallel the words of the prophet Malachi who said, "See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before Me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His Temple." [Mal. 3:1] They echo the Words of the Gospel of Luke, "The Word of God came to John (the Baptist) in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." [Lk. 3:2-3] Unknown to God's chosen people of those days, the Lord God was prophesizing the coming of Jesus Christ.
God said, "I will give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise." [Is. 43:20b-1] What does God mean by "Give drink?" Giving drink is giving the living water. These Words echo the Words of Jesus who said, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the Scriptures has said, 'Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.' Now He said this about the (Holy) Spirit, which believers in Him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified." [Jn. 7:37-9]
What exactly did God mean by "the people whom I formed for myself?" In this context, the word "formed" means more than to bring together by association. This particular word echoes the Book of Genesis where it says, "Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being." [Gen. 2:7] When God was speaking of forming a people for Himself, He was referring to a new creation, the old having passed away. God was referring to the new creation that each and everyone of us received during the Sacrament of Baptism so we may enjoy living water by the power of the Holy Spirit in the Most Holy Name of Jesus.
These words echo that God's people, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, has been purchased by a price through the Blood of Christ so they may proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord who called them out of darkness into His marvellous light." [Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 2:9]
At the same time, the Lord God expressed that He is tired of the indifference of His people. "But you have been weary of Me. You have burdened Me with your sins. You have wearied Me with your iniquities." God's people, worldly in their ways, have failed to perceive the spiritual Kingdom that God was about to establish. The people continued to live in sin, rejecting the spiritual heart that could have led them to their salvation.
And finally, we heard of the promise of the infinite grace and love of our living and merciful Lord God at work. "I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember you sins." [Is. 43:25] The Lord God promised to forgive sinners. This is not just temporary human forgiveness. It is the fullness of the Divine forgiveness of sins. God promised to no longer remember our sins. This promise is made for His glory, for us repentant sinners to be grateful of His grace, love and mercy.
As the Second Reading from the Letter to the Corinthians [2 Cor. 1:18-22] teaches us, our response to God's promises should be "Yes!" as the response of our Lord Jesus was always "Yes!" to our Heavenly Father. God was not inconsistent with us by saying "Yes!" and then "No!" As such, we should not be inconsistent with God.
Through Jesus, every one of God's promises were fulfilled, we being living witnesses of each promise found in the Old Testament. As such, our response to prayers is always "Amen" for the glory of God, "Amen" meaning "Yes!"
It is God who establishes us as members of the Body of Christ and who has anointed us. It is by His grace that those who believe in Christ receives strength and the necessary faith to walk the living faith that leads to salvation.
God set His seal on us by placing His Spirit in our hearts as a first instalment. Three things stand out here. God anointed us. He marked us with a seal. He gave us His Spirit as a first instalment.
A seal is a personal mark placed by owners on their property. Some businesses have a seal that they place on their official documents, testifying that this is their legal documents. History teaches us how the head of States placed a seal on important documents that they sent to someone. A seal means that it is official and binding. God placed His seal on us through the Sacrament of Baptism. By this action, He affirmed that we belong to Him as His people... this being official.
To receive the Holy Spirit is like a pledge. It is a down payment. It means that the rest of the payment will be made at a later date. Through the Spirit of Christ, we were reborn during the Sacrament of Baptism. We received our first instalment, the new creation of the godly seed. This unmeasurable gift of God opens the door for us to receive the Church Sacraments. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we are made righteous up until the moment of receiving the Sacrament. Through the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the Living Bread, we receive eternal life and salvation. Everything is progressive, leading to something greater.
Our final instalment will be given to us at the resurrection of our bodies after we have persevered to the end in our living faith. Having received the first fruits of the Spirit, we groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. [Rom. 8:23; Eph. 1:5]
Reviewing today's reading from the Gospel of Mark, [Mk. 2:1-12] we heard that Jesus had just returned home. No sooner had He arrived, the word got out and the crowd gathered at His home. So great was the number of people that some had to stand in front of the door as Jesus spoke the Word to them.
Next we heard that four men carried a paralysed man to Jesus. Considering this situation with a spiritual mind, to be paralysed is symbolic of being unable to move. It means that we are unable to do anything on our own.
Now, when the men could not bring the paralysed man to Jesus because of the crowd, they climbed the roof and made a hole in it above Jesus so they could lower the man before Jesus in a mat.
Again, thinking spiritually, "removing the roof above Jesus" is symbolic. The mystery of Yahweh has been removed. God took human form through His incarnation. God "who, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross." [Phil. 2:6-8]
The roof above has been removed. Different from the days of the Old Testament, we no longer go directly to God the Father. Everything is new! Now, we must go through Jesus who is the one Mediator between God and humankind, He who gave Himself up as a ransom for all. [1 Tim. 2:5-6] It is through Jesus alone that we find the forgiveness of sins.
When Jesus saw the faith of the paralysed man and of those who brought him, He said,"Son, your sins are forgiven." Jesus did not say, "Son, you are physically healed," but rather, "Your sins are forgiven."
Through these Words of Jesus we learn that the forgiveness of sins is by faith. When the priest gives you absolution in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, your sins are truly forgiven, you being made righteous in the eyes of God the Father because He no longer remembers the sins you committed prior to receiving absolution.
Now, these Words of Jesus do not mean that you are saved by faith. They mean that you are made righteous up to that moment. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a step towards the Kingdom of God. It is a step that prepares you for the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist by blessing you with the same state of grace that you previously enjoyed when you received the Sacrament of Baptism. Through the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the Bread of Life, you gain your salvation. Your faith in Christ, your spiritual healing through having your sins forgiven, opens the door for you to partake in the great Feast of the Holy Eucharist at the table with the Lord Jesus.
Now the scribes did not like what Jesus said. In their hearts, they asked themselves, who is this man who speaks in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone? This miracle of physical and spiritual healing of the paralysed man foreshadowed that Jesus is God. No one can be saved by his own works. All require the grace of God the Father and faith in Jesus Christ to have their sins forgiven.
Knowing the thoughts of the scribes, Jesus asked them what was easier, to say to the man, "Your sins are forgiven," or to say, "Stand up and take your mat and walk?" Jesus proceeds to say, "But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins' - he said to the man who was paralysed - 'I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.'" Notice the first words of Jesus, "But so that you may know." Here, Jesus authenticated His claim to forgive sins, this echoing the spiritual healing of the forgiven sinner.
When the man stood up, took his mat and walked out before all, those who were present were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!" Being worldly minded, they were "amazed" at the physical power of Jesus to heal. They lacked the new heart that could perceive the Divine power of Jesus to reinstate the righteousness of the soul by faith.
Summarizing today's readings, they affirm to us that we received our forgiveness of sins by faith in Christ. We are called to believe in the fulfillment of the promises of the Heavenly Father that when we receive absolution from the priest during the Sacrament of Reconciliation, truly, God no longer remembers our sins. Through our faith, accompanied by the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God reinstates the righteousness that we previously enjoyed through the Sacrament of Baptism so that we may partake in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist to receive our inheritance as children of God, our salvation in preparation for the final instalment that is to come at the resurrection of our bodies.
* * * * * * * * * *
The readings...
[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]
* * * * * * * * * *
First Reading...
"The Lord said: 'Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.'
'I will give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.'
'Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Isreal! You have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.
"I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember you sins." [Is. 43:18-9, 20b-2, 24b-5]
* * * * * * * * * *
Second Reading...
"As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been "Yes and No." For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not "Yes and No"; but in him it always "Yes."
For in him every one of God's promises is a "Yes." For this reason it is through him that we say the "Amen," to the glory of God. But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first instalment." [2 Cor. 1:18-22]
* * * * * * * * * *
Gospel Reading...
"When Jesus returned to Capernaum, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them.
Then some people came, bringing to Jesus a paralysed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralysed man lay.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.' Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 'Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?'
At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, 'Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralysed man, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Stand up and take your mat and walk?' But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins' - he said to the man who was paralysed - 'I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.'
And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, 'We have never seen anything like this!'"[Mk. 2:1-12]
* * * * * * * * * *