I'm ridiculously selfish.
I know it, Jesus knows it, and sometimes I think everyone else in the world knows it.
Friday's Gospel reading (Mark 2:1-12) made me see just how selfish I can be. It's a pretty well-known one, with four friends of a man who's paralyzed bringing him to Jesus to be healed, only to find that He's surrounded by people and they can't make it through the crowd. They make it happen, though, by going up on the roof, making a hole in it, and lowering their paralyzed friend through the hole right in front of Our Lord. Jesus sees their faith and has mercy on them... and while He does that, he shows mercy to the scribes and all the doubters who don't understand just who He is.When I was reflecting, I was thinking about the paralyzed man and how blessed he was to have friends like that. Friends who will not only care about him enough to bring him to be healed, but go through all kinds of difficulty to make it happen. Really thinking about it, each of these four friends had their own lives; their own families, frustrations, joys, doubts, sins, and struggles. I'm sure at one point or another, at least one of these men thought "why am I doing this? When is it my turn to meet the Saviour and have my sorrows healed?" Who knows how far they had to travel to bring their friend to Capernaum? And the whole way, they had to carry him on a stretcher. Through sand. Probably some windstorms and intense heat. These four men were so selfless!!
Picture it: they carry a man for who-knows-how-many miles. They're starving, exhausted, and dirty. The paralyzed man is tired and so grateful. They finally, finally, arrive at the house where Jesus is rumoured to be, and they find a crowd of people so big that there's no chance of being able to bring the man to Jesus before He'll need to leave for the next town. I don't know what is going through the minds of the four men at this point, but if it were me, it'd be "ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME??!?" with probably more than a few mutterings under my breath. But thank the good Lord I wasn't one of those men. So. They realize that it's going to take some thinking outside the box to get this man the healing he hopes for and deserves.
Then one of them figures out that if they can just get on the roof and find some ropes or something of the like, they can make a hole in the roof and LOWER him in! Again, I'd be all "ugh. This is the WORST", and again, praise the Lord I wasn't there. But these men are determined. They agree, and then somehow make their way up on to the roof. THEN they have to figure out a way to bring the stretcher up with the man on it. Hopefully they allowed themselves a little breather before creating the hole in the roof.
Next: tearing a hole in the roof. I'm sure that task was mere peanuts compared to the amount of work done leading up to this point. If the roof had been straw. Just think about how weary their arms must have been at the moment. Meanwhile they're not even sure if Jesus will DO anything to help this friend of theirs. Was he even their friend?? Did they just meet him somehow in their travels and decide to help? I'm sure by the end of it, they were all close friends... they'd HAVE to be after this kind of trial together, right? Once they figured it out, they just start to lower their companion into the room, aiming to place him right in front of Jesus, who is right in the centre of the mob. Most likely fearing some sort of outcry at their audacity of making their friend priority one, their arms shake under the weariness of travel, weight of the stretcher, and fear of ridicule.
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| The beautiful Sharon Leyne and her bridesmaids. It was such an honour to celebrate her and Colm's big day |
Finally, their friend is lowered to the floor, and Jesus notices him and the four on the roof and says "My child, your sins are forgiven". So exciting! But what does that mean? The five of them were probably hoping for a bit more; for some healing action. But Jesus doesn't leave it at that. To show the scribes and the doubters present that He is actually God and can say things like that, He says "..get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home..."
Can you even imagine how amazing that would be? The man probably wobbled uncontrollably as he got up, then needed stability as he walked out of the house. The four friends were probably jumping off the roof and dancing for joy as they took turns holding their former paralytic friend up as they all walked home together.
I don't think I'll ever be as selfless, giving, and loving as these four men were. But it really made me realize that it's something to be mindful of when most of the time I'm comparing my own struggles with others' victories and joys and saying "when is it MY turn?" and "it must be nice to have things work out for you".
Jesus, give me the grace to recognize the victories you've given me in my own life, no matter how insignificant they may seem. Show me how to carry friends and acquaintances to Your side when they need me to, without counting the cost. Let me be one of these four to those around me.
Who are you in this story? An onlooker in the house? The paralytic himself? One of the doubting scribes? Read the Gospel story again, and see what Jesus is trying to teach you by healing this man and his four incredible travel companions.
You are all in my prayers!
~Jocelyn Arnott
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| Staff from a few years ago. Being able to work/play/live/laugh/love with this group is a pure gift from God. |
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