† Sunday, 19
February 2012
Cycle of Prayer – Prayer for those searching for work and those
assisting them
Keynote: Jesus – bringer of freedom, the one who forgives sin
Prophet Isaiah 43:18–19, 21–22, 24b–25
It can be difficult to put the past behind us. But here the prophet tells us: ‘Thus says the Lord: No need to recall the past, no need to think about what was done before… instead you have burdened me with your sins… It is I who must blot out everything and not remember your sins.’ The Lord God through the prophet is showing the People of Israel a new way to follow ‘…I am making a road in the wilderness, paths in the wilderness.’ This reading prepares us for the gospel, which tells of the freedom that God offers to us – undeserving people that we are! Yes! Freedom from past wrongs done, freedom from the consequences of sinful action. So we are being urged while there is yet time, to repent and to turn once more to God and follow God’s Way.
Responsorial Psalm 40 (41) – A song in recovery from sickness
Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 1:18–22
Not everything that Paul writes is clear and easy to understand. But here it is simple enough. ‘I swear by God’s truth,’ writes Paul, ‘there is no “Yes” and “No” about what we say to you: The Son of God, the Christ Jesus that we proclaimed among you… it was never “Yes” and “No” – with him it is always “Yes”, and however many the promises God made, the “Yes” to them all is in him.’ In our life experience with some people there is a ‘yes’ and a ‘no’ about the relationship, but with God it is all ‘yes’. Paul and his fellow workers, despite the hardships and suffering they encountered, are buoyed up with enthusiasm, and filled with the Spirit of God. Maybe, just maybe, now it is time for us too, to say, “Yes” to God!
Gospel according to Mark 2:1–12
Last week it was the leper who, approaching Jesus, broke the law! Now there is
vandalism on the roof tiles, as four men carrying a paralysed man, unable to
gain access to the house where Jesus ‘was
preaching the word to them… as the crowds made it impossible to get the man to
him’ – break open the roof to
lower the stretcher in front of Jesus! Mark, the evangelist gives us a vivid
picture, but the events in this passage concentrate our minds upon the authority
of Jesus, and the conflict with the religious authorities of his day. Great
numbers of people come to hear the preaching of Jesus, to bring their sick to be
healed. Jesus uses the occasion of the paralytic let down through the roof by
his companions, to demonstrate God’s power over both sickness and sin. Breaking
the human rules about the Sabbath is not important when compared with bringing
health to some poor person and setting them free from the chains of sin.
Mind you Jesus’ action,
doesn’t please the religious leaders who saw what he did as a threat to their
own influential and important positions, and no doubt, as a threat too, to the
gold in their pockets. Do we put Jesus, and the things of God, first? ‘Freedom
Rules OK!’ But is it the freedom of God that we seek, or are we too ready to
look to our own interest?
© Peter J Harrison 2012