Since we are travellers and pilgrims in the world, let us ever ponder on the end of the road, that is of our life, for the end of our roadway is our home (St Columban, 8th sermon).
On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees
and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every
village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord
was with him to heal.And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralysed,
and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus,but finding no way to bring him in, because
of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his
bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus.And when he saw their faith, he
said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”And the scribes and the Pharisees began to
question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can
forgive sins but God alone?”When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered
them, “Why do you question in your hearts?Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are
forgiven you’, or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?But 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, rise, pick up your bed
and go home.”And immediately he rose up before them and picked up
what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.And amazement seized them all, and
they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen
extraordinary things today.”
In this book Pope Benedict XVI has a wonderful commentary on today's gospel on pages 43-44.
Jesus himself poignantly raised
the question as to where the priority lies in man’s need for redemption on the
occasion when the four men, who could not carry the paralytic through the door
because of the crowd, let him down from the roof and laid him at Jesus’ feet.
The sick man’s very existence was a plea, an urgent appeal for salvation, to
which Jesus responded in a way that was quite contrary to the expectation of
the bearers and of the sick man himself, saying: My son, your sins are forgiven’
(Mark 2:5) [Luke 5:20]. This was the
last thing anyone was expecting. This was the last thing they were concerned
about. The paralytic needed to be able to walk, not delivered from his sins.
The scribes criticised the theological presumption of Jesus’ words: the sick
man and those around him were disappointed, because Jesus had apparently
overlooked the man’s real need.
I consider this whole scene to
be of key significance for the question of Jesus’ mission in the terms with
which he was first described by the angel’s message to Joseph. In the passage
concerned, both the criticism of the scribes and the silent expectation of the
onlookers is acknowledged. Jesus then demonstrates his ability to forgive sins
by ordering the sick man to take up his pallet and walk away healed. At the
same time, the priority of forgiveness for sins as the foundation of all true
healing is clearly manifested.
Man is a relational being. And
in his first fundamental relationship is disturbed – his relationship with God –
then nothing can be truly in order. This is where the priority lies in Jesus message
and ministry: before all else, he wants to point man toward the essence of his
malady, and to show him – if you are not headed there, then however many good things you may find, you are not
truly healed.
When Jesus
had crossed again in the boatto the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was
by the sea.Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and,
when he saw him, fell at his feetand begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of
death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.”So he went with him.
And a large
crowd followed him and pressed in on him.Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for
twelve years.She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that
she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and
touched his cloak,for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.”Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that
she was healed of her disease.Immediately
aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and
said, “Who touched my clothes?”And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on
you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’”He looked all around to see who had done it.But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and
trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth.He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in
peace, and be healed of your disease.”
While he was
still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter
is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?”But overhearing[what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not
fear, only believe.”He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the
brother of James.When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw
a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.When
he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The
child is not dead but sleeping.”And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took
the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where
the child was.He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which
means, “Little girl, get up!”And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was
twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement.He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told
them to give her something to eat.
Because I will be on a pilgrimage to Malta from 24 to 30 June I am posting this early. This reflection, slightly edited, is what I posted three years ago for the same Sunday.
Lyn was someone I met when she was about 15. Three years later, when she was only halfway through her four-year college course, she quit to marry Roberto. (I’m not using their real names). Lyn was madly in love with Roberto, who had a good job and came from a relatively wealthy family. Lyn’s family could not be described as poor either. I celebrated the wedding Mass and attended the reception in a classy hotel. In the Philippines it’s the groom’s father who pays for the reception. the young couple went to live in Manila, where Roberto was from. About a year later a daughter, whom I’ll call Gloria, was born. She had a mental disability. Another daughter, ‘Gabriela’, arrived a year or two later.
Then tragedy struck. Roberto discovered that his kidneys weren’t working properly and that he needed dialysis. Over the next couple of years Roberto and Lyn spent practically all they had on this and it ended in Roberto’s death. Meanwhile, Lyn’s parents both had serious illnesses and had to spend most of their resources on treatment.
Lyn returned to her own city with her two young daughters. She couldn’t find a job and had no qualifications since she hadn’t finished in college. With much embarrassment she came to see me and asked if I could give her an ‘allowance’. She was able to survive the next few years with help from her siblings and friends and eventually remarried.
I’ve met so many ‘Lyns’ in the Philippines who are like the woman in today’s gospel, who have spent all their resources on doctors and medicine and are still sick. I’ve met families who have pawned their little bit of land in order to enable an aged parent to have surgery that ultimately leaves the whole family impoverished and the person on whom they had spent the money, out of a perhaps misplaced love, ending up in the cemetery.
Most Filipinos have little access to good health care. Even those who have government health insurance have to come up with ready cash if they go to hospital, unlike in Ireland or the United Kingdom. They are eventually reimbursed but have to pay interest on money they have borrowed in the meantime. I’ve heard people in Ireland and in the UK complain about the poor health services they have and their complaints are often justified. I have also heard many unsolicited words of praise for nurses from the Philippines working in hospitals in those countries.
Bu the sad reality is that most of these nurses, if they were still in the Philippines, would not have access to the kind of care they provide in Ireland and the UK. They would be like the woman in the gospel.
I met a Filipina in Reykjavík in 2000 who told me that she had had a kidney transplant in Denmark, paid for by the taxpayers of Iceland, a country of only 300,000 people or so. Had she been at home she would probably have ended up like Roberto.
Twenty-two years ago in a parish in Mindanao I buried Eileen, like the daughter of Jairus, a 12-year-old. Again, poverty was a significant factor in her illness and death, despite the efforts of the doctors and nurses in the small government hospital where she died.
So the two stories interwoven by St Mark are stories that many Filipinos have lived or are living.
But sometimes persons experience healing. I once gave a recollection day to a group of 11- and 12-year old children in a Catholic school in Cebu City. We reflected on the story of Jesus staying behind in the Temple when he was 12 and that of the daughter of Jairus, also 12. Before the afternoon session a group of the boys and girls came to tell me that Maria, one of their classmates, had a bad toothache and asked if we could pray with her. Maybe Jesus would heal her as he had healed ‘Talitha’. They thought that that was the name of the girl in the gospel! We prayed with Maria – and her toothache disappeared. The children were delighted.
St Mark gives us illustrations of the humanity of Jesus more than do St Matthew and St Luke when they recount the same stories. Scholars tell us that St Mark’s was the first gospel to be written and that the other two drew on his in writing theirs. St Matthew omits the detail of Jesus perceiving in himself that power had gone forth from him. This shows us that Jesus wasn’t a ‘magician’. When he healed a sick person he gave of himself.
St Matthew leaves out another beautiful detail about the humanity of our Saviour. Jesus says to the people in the house, Give her something to eat. I can imagine the joy of everyone, including Jesus. I picture him with a smile on his face, a smile that reflects his joy – and his awareness that the girl’s family had forgotten the very practical detail that she was starving, as is anyone who has come through a serious illness. This detail of St Mark brings home to me the great reality that St John expressed in his gospel and that we pray in the Angelus, The Word became flesh and lived among us (John 1:14).
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India
[optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)
Gospel
Mark 13:24-32 (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition)
Jesus said to his disciples, "But in those days, after that
tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and
the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be
shaken. And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power
and glory. And then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the
four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as
soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer
is near. So also, when you see these
things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say
to you, this generation will not pass away before all these things take place. Heaven
and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. "But of that
day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but
only the Father”.
Connor Eberhard (left) with two friends after their graduation earlier this year at Blessed Trinity Catholic Secondary School, Grimsby, Ontario, Canada, earlier this year.
Connor Eberhard, 17, whose mother Cathy I have known since she was five, posted this on his Facebook last Tuesday, 13 November:
As some of you may well know, my family and I are battling through a very tough time. I have been diagnosed with a rare Liver Cancer. When I type it on a keyboard, it still doesn’t register. The past week has felt like a horrible nightmare, and I can’t wake up. Your thoughts and prayers have meant a lot to me, and I want to truly thank each and every one of you. Your continued support gives me the strength and courage I need to go on. Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. It is a word, not a sentence.
Love always, Connor Eberhard
Connor's family are devastated. This Sunday's gospel speaks of such devastation affecting the whole community. Every experience of desolation in a community affects each family, each individual. The gospel speaks of Jesus coming again in judgment at an hour that 'only the Father' knows.
The gospel is one that can frighten us or that can encourage us to be always ready for an unexpected serious illness, for our death and for the return of the Lord at the end of time.
The texts for today's Mass are filled with joy and hope. The Collect reads:
Grant us, we pray, O Lord our God,
the constant gladness of being devoted to you,
for it is full and lasting happiness
to serve with constancy
the author of all that is good.
The response to the psalm reads, in the New American Bible lectionary, You are my inheritance, O Lord! and in the Jerusalem Bible lectionary, Preserve me, O God, I take refuge in you. The verses from Psalm 16 (15) are words of joy and hope: Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices . . . You will show me the path of life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever (NAB).
Jesus assures us in the gospel, Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
I have been blessed on a number of occasions to have been with persons in a situation like that of Connor. One was when I was working in a hospital in the USA. Another was with a dear friend still in her 20s. Neither situation was one of gloom but of hope, joy and, with my friend, even of celebration.
I know too that a situation like this is a time of very special grace to the individual, of God's presence in a family and in the wider family and social circle.
The Entrance Antiphon of today's Mass give us words of hope from Jeremiah: The Lord said: I think thoughts of peace and not of affliction. You will call upon me, and I will answer you, and I will lead back your captives from every place. Jeremiah is speaking to the Jewish people in a situation of calamity. But the word of God speaks to each of us, to our families, to our communities, in our particular form of 'captivity'.
Each Sunday Mass in Ordinary Time has two alternative Communion Antiphons, either of which may be used. The first is usually from the Old Testament and the second from the New. The first this Sunday is Psalm 72:28, a text of joy and hope: To be near God is my happiness, to place my hope in God the Lord.
That from the New Testament gives us words of Jesus himself encouraging us to pray in hope:
Communion Antiphon (Mark 11:23-24)
Amen, I say to you: Whatever you ask in prayer,
believe that you will receive,
and it shall be given to you, says the Lord.
Latin text:
Amen, dico vobis, quidquid orántes pétitis,
crédite, quia accipiétis,
et fiet vobis, (dicit Dominus). Connor's family have asked for prayer through the intercession of Blessed John Paul II and sent this prayer which has the ecclesiastical approval of the Diocese of Rome:
O Blessed Trinity,
we thank you for having graced
the Church with Blessed John Paul II
and for allowing the
tenderness of your Fatherly care,
the glory of the Cross of
Christ,
and the splendour of the
Spirit of love,
to shine through him.
Trusting fully in your
infinite mercy
and in the maternal
intercession of Mary,
he has given us a living image
of Jesus the Good Shepherd,
and has shown us that
holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life
and is the way of achieving
eternal communion with you.
Grant us, by his
intercession,
And according to your will,
the grace we implore:
Connor Eberhard's complete
healing,
hoping that he, Blessed
Pope John Paul II,
will soon be numbered among
your saints. Amen.
May I also suggest two other intercessors, both of them among the patrons for World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro: Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901 - 1925), A Saint on Skis(above), and Blessed Chiara Luce Badano (1971 - 1990), The Saint Who Failed Math, an only child (below).
After the Way of the Cross on 19 August 2011 during World Youth Day in Madrid Pope Benedict said to the young people gathered:
Dear young friends, may Christ’s love for us increase your joy and encourage you to go in search of those less fortunate. You are open to the idea of sharing your lives with others, so be sure not to pass by on the other side in the face of human suffering, for it is here that God expects you to give of your very best: your capacity for love and compassion. The different forms of suffering that have unfolded before our eyes in the course of this Way of the Cross are the Lord’s way of summoning us to spend our lives following in his footsteps and becoming signs of his consolation and salvation. “To suffer with the other and for others; to suffer for the sake of truth and justice; to suffer out of love and in order to become a person who truly loves — these are fundamental elements of humanity, and to abandon them would destroy man himself” (ibid.).
Let us eagerly welcome these teachings and put them into practice. Let us look upon Christ, hanging on the harsh wood of the Cross, and let us ask him to teach us this mysterious wisdom of the Cross, by which man lives. The Cross was not a sign of failure, but an expression of self-giving in love that extends even to the supreme sacrifice of one’s life. The Father wanted to show his love for us through the embrace of his crucified Son: crucified out of love. The Cross, by its shape and its meaning, represents this love of both the Father and the Son for men. Here we recognize the icon of supreme love, which teaches us to love what God loves and in the way that he loves: this is the Good News that gives hope to the world.
Both Blessed Pier Giorgio and Blessed Chiara Luce lived out these words joyfully through suffering. Blessed John Paul II had an extraordinary love for young persons. May the intercession of these three 'blesseds' obtain for Connor Eberhard the healing he and his family are asking for and a deepening and strengthening of their faith in Jesus Christ, a faith I have seen grow through many years of friendship.
Connor with his American cousin Caitlin Devlin. Caitlin's Dad, Peter, is a brother of Connor's Mom, Cathy.
