paralytic man

TAKE UP YOUR MAT AND GO HOME




Good morning every one. I am so happy to see you all and welcome you all for today’s Holy Mass. My special welcome is to all our parishioners, visitors and every one who is here today. Dear friends, every time we come to Church, we hear Jesus saying to us, “pick up yourself and be strong; I am with you”. Every time we come to Church, we hear Jesus saying, your sins are forgiven and be happy and every time we come to Church we experience His love and kindness and say, “we have never seen anything like this”.
One day a dad was talking to his son about the miracles and wonders of Christ our Lord. The son said, “Dad, what is your favorite gospel story?” The dad said, “There are so many my son, so may. The one we heard today in the Church is also my favorite”. The son said, “Dad, tell me the story of the gospel?’ The dad said, “It is the story about the paralyzed man”. Every time I hear about the story, I think about our neighbor Joe because Joe was exactly like the paralyzed man. When his wife died last year, he felt so abandoned and stopped doing every day thing. He even stopped going to church and then his friends like the four people who carried the paralyzed person to Jesus went to Joe and said, “we are here to support you. We are going to pray for you” They supported him spiritually and emotionally and then Joe came out of his pain and suffering.
Today we meet with so many paralyzed people. They may be paralyzed because of lose or some failures or anything else. All they need is people to help them.
What do we see in today’s gospel? Jesus is healing the sick and talking to people. People from every walk of life surrounded him. It was impossible to reach Him. But because of the friends and neighbors; because of relatives and family members who wanted to help the paralytic person, he could reach Jesus. They did not give up instead they went up the roof and from there they let the man down to Jesus. Jesus was so amazed at their faith and healed the man.
Today the question is do we have friends, family members, relatives and neighbor who have strong faith. Do we have people who can help us to experience Jesus and His healing? It is not about the faith we have, it is also equally important to have friends and family members who have stronger faith because when we lose hope, when we lose faith and love, they might extend their help and they might say to us, “it is o.k. Do not be worried. God will never abandon you. He will protect you and He will heal you and strengthen you.
I know that we all meet people or have people who will come to us and say, “ it is because of what you did, you are sick and God punished you. It is not going to be fine. You should learn to live with it” There are people who will constantly discourage of what we are going through.
Conclusion:

Today we need strong spiritual guide and friends to whom we feel comfortable to share our suffering and pain; with whom we might open ourselves knowing that they might help us to experience the unconditional love of God in Christ and it is also important to be a good neighbor, friend, family member and relative to others who struggle spiritually, emotionally and physically. Amen.