Readings: Amos 7:10-17, Ps 18:8-11 , Matt 9:1-8
Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia
LORD RESTORE US AGAIN FOR WE ARE PARALYZED BY THE SINFUL THINGS OF THIS PASSING WORLD
The sin and evil going on in the world today are putting our faith to the test and most people are giving in to the scheme of the devil because they lack the strong will to withstand the suffering, sickness and problems that befall us as a result of this evil. People are running ups and down seeking for solutions.
While the evil ones are taking advantage of the situation to destroy the faith of the people. In fact, one may begin to wonder if there is still hope for the restoration of humanity from this ugly situation. But the fact remains that God is able to heal and restore us once again.
This is evident in our Gospel passage today, when some people brought to him a paralytic stretched out on a bed. And seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Courage, my child, your sins are forgiven.’ But some scribes doubted his authority to forgive sins, and Jesus knowing what was in their minds said: ‘Why do you have such wicked thoughts in your hearts? Now, which of these is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up and walk”? But to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,’ he said to the paralytic, ‘get up, and pick up your bed and go off home.’ And the man got up and went home.
Here we see the power and authority of Jesus towards the restoration of paralytic man carried by his friends. A gesture that signifies the restoration of humanity paralyzed by sin. So Jesus began by forgiving our sins. Though sin seems to be the root of the sickness. But sin may be pardoned, yet the sickness not be removed; the sickness may be removed, yet the sin not pardoned. But for Jesus, healing is holistic for those who have faith in God. And this is what the scribes and the Pharisees failed to understand as they doubted and opposed the power and authority of Jesus just like the priest Amaziah in our first reading, who opposed prophet Amos.
Prophet Amos was doing the work of God, by calling people to repentance and to face the consequences of their sins. This is because, Amaziah and king Jeroboam had sinned and also led the people of Israel to sin against God as well. So Amaziah saw Amos as a rival and a threat to his own influence, and that was also why he went up to king Jeroboam complaining about Amos and asking him to get out of Israel and return to the land of Judah, and stop prophesying in Bethel because he doesn’t want to hear the truth just like must of our leaders today who does not like to hear the truth.
Dear friends, today we are called not to be like the priest Amaziah or the scribes who were enslaved by their pride and desire to maintain their prestige in the society. They doubted the power and authority of Jesus and rejected the message of truth. But Jesus rebuked them, this shows us that truly he has power and authority not just to heal and forgive us but to restore us and all humanity back to our formal glory.
We are also called to imitate the great faith and love of the friends of the paralytic, the love and faith that radiate from the innermost being of those who exercise it. Let us like them, learn to love and help one another. Because the absence of love is the cause of most problems in our world today. For most families exist only by grace because of the absence of love. How I wish we can invest our time and resources in ensuring love and goodwill in our dealings with one another, believe me, the world will be a temporal home for everyone.
LET US PRAY: Lord God, we are paralyzed by the sins and evil we are committing against you and the world you created, as we come to you in faith, forgive us our sins, heal and restore us once again. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you.
