Father Thomas Welbers' Homily	Jump back to Homily Index
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 23, 2003 Isaiah 43:18-19, 21-22, 24b-25 2 Corinthians 1:18-22 Mark 2:1-12	Listen to Audio

When confronted with pain and suffering, have you ever asked, “What did I do to deserve this?” Or asked that same question about a person you love – “They are so good; they don’t deserve the affliction that has come upon them!” Or, perhaps in the case of somebody very close, “Are they suffering because of something I did?”

I suspect you have had similar questions spring to mind in moments of confusion, pain and doubt. I can assure you I have as well. Throughout history people have naturally associated physical illness with moral wrongdoing. That not only provides a ready, if untrue, answer to a difficult question, it’s also very convenient. Instead of giving the sick person compassion and care, we can say “Well, it’s his fault,” or “He had it coming” – and then ignore or isolate them. Too much of history has seen the sick dumped in institutions at the edges of society – and then forgotten. Today also, so many of our mentally ill and our elderly are alone or forgotten, or people with certain types of illness are shunned.

On the other hand, are sin and illness totally unrelated? Whatever we carry around as a burden can often be seen as the effect of sin. Sometimes it’s self-inflicted damage resulting from our own unwise, damaging, or unhealthy lifestyle, attitudes, or decisions. Often it’s the sin of others – neglect, abuse, or exploitation – that imposes a burden one must carry. Those burdens often result in ill health or other forms of suffering.

If we look carefully at what Jesus said and did here, we find him both affirming the connection between sin and sickness, and at the same time transcending it and challenging it. It was the common belief that the man was sick because he was a sinner. Perhaps the guilt, doubt, and confusion resulting from the awareness of his own sin – and let’s face it we are all sinners, yet don’t we often feel isolated in our sense of sinfulness? Perhaps this guilt was overwhelming him with anxiety, and maybe contributing to the pain of his paralysis. We all know to some degree how mental and emotional turmoil can genuinely paralyze us! After all, modern medicine will agree, a healthy body requires a healthy mind.

So Jesus went to the heart of the matter when he said “Your sins are forgiven.” According to the prevailing attitude, the man could not be healed unless his sins were forgiven. So, OK, Jesus forgives. In essence, by this act of forgiveness, Jesus is saying, “It’s OK, you are a child of God, and God loves you. God is not angry with you, and God is not punishing you. Turn to God, even with your sins, and God will relieve you of the burden.” With these word the burden of fear and estrangement from God was lifted as the necessary first step to a physical healing.

At the same time, Jesus challenged the prevailing notion that illness was the direct result of sin simply by replacing our very human tendency to blame with a forgiveness that is both complete and unconditional. He didn’t ask the paralyzed man if he was sorry for his sins, he didn’t even tell him he had to repent. In fact, notice that the Gospel is very explicit in stating that it was the faith of the friends who lowered him through the roof that moved him to forgive and heal, not any word or disposition of the paralyzed man.

No blame – not of oneself nor of others. Just forgiveness. No blame; just forgiveness. If there is any one quality that Jesus expects to see in his disciples, according to repeated examples and instructions, it is that: no blame; just forgiveness.

Maybe we see so little healing and peace around us because we are so quick to blame, and so slow to forgive. Maybe, as we count down these last weeks before Lent, we could make a Lenten resolution to examine ourselves daily on whom we want to blame, and for what; and simply to pray that we can move our own hearts in each case from blame to forgiveness.

© Thomas Welbers, 2003