I guess
you are quite familiar with today’s gospel reading. It’s the story of how Jesus
cured a paralysed man. The man must have been bed-ridden for a while now, and
perhaps had lost the company of many family members and friends who had given
up on him. This faithful day, four of his old friends visited him and were
talking about Jesus, the new prophet in town who was preaching powerfully and
working miracles. The sick man listened with interest and when he learnt that
Jesus was even within the vicinity, he indicated interest in seeing Him. His
friends were enthusiastic about helping him meet Jesus; how they wished their long-time
friend would be well again.
The
young men carried their friend and set off. When they arrived where Jesus was,
there was a crowd. They tried to force their way through the crowd but it was
too thick. A brilliant idea came to one of them: they were going to go through
the roof. While two of them were dismantling the roof, the two others were
attaching the four corners of the mat upon which the paralyse lay with ropes. Then
they begin to lower him gradually down the roof. By this time, everybody had
taken notice of what was happening; Jesus Himself had halted His preaching, and
they all regarded upwards in a strange silence. The man was now on the floor.
Jesus looked down at him and looked up at his friends. He sighed and said, “Son,
your sins are forgiven”. Before you could say “no noise”, the sick man was
already on his feet. Jesus had cured him of his paralysis. He picked up his mat
and went home rejoicing.
Those
four guys are worth emulating. The first thing that struck me about them is the
attention and love they had for their friend. The other notable thing is their solidarity in pursuing a good course. The
third lesson concerns their positive creativity.
Love knows how to get around obstacles; it knows when to break the law. So they
dismantled the ceiling (and fixed it back). Then we have to mention their ardent
and dogged faith. Jesus even noticed
that. These young men were just superb. As we reflect on the virtues they
exhibited, let’s endeavour to replicate them in our lives.
Have
a nice day and God loves you.
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