Dearest Goddaughter (LTR-33) - Jesus Saw Their Faith

Dearest Goddaughter,

"It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king," the Lord said to Samuel. In his homily this morning, Fr. Callen Sweeney compared the people's demand for a king to rule over them to what happened in Eden.

The serpent convinced Adam & Eve that God is withholding something from them. So rather than trust that God has provided for them everything they would ever need, Adam & Eve decided to take matters into their own hands and ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We all know the consequences of their rejection of God's love and goodness.

It is often said that when we say "yes" to something, we are saying "no" to something else. For instance, with Lent starting in a little over a month, many of the faithful will "give up" something for Lent. In a sense, they are saying "no" to whatever it is that they are "giving up" and "yes", hopefully, to filling that time with prayer, devotion, etc. that will help them grow in virtue and in their relationship with Jesus during Lent. The challenge for us in our daily lives is to remember to say "yes" to God.

One of the many challenges that parents often face in trying to get their children to Mass on Saturday evenings or Sunday mornings is, they have to compete with sports and activities. There are practices, games, and tournaments that could last all weekend and conflict with Mass. This is when it is important to discern things of God and reject things not of God or that leads us away of God. It is difficult, which is why is also important to surround ourselves with people who share our faithfulness to God, like the men in today's Gospel who made every effort to get their paralytic friend before Jesus.

We hear that they were "unable to get near Jesus"; however, with great efforts that are driven by their faith and devotion to God, they had "broken through".  We, too, must break through the barriers and obstacles that keep us from coming to Jesus and being near him. It takes courage but when we make the effort and break through, Jesus will see our faith and welcomes us as "good and faithful servants." Let us remind ourselves every day to never reject God for anything or anyone.

Love,

Bỏ Phúc

P.S. These are the readings for the day: 1 Sm 8:4-7, 10-22a and Mk 2:1-12 (below).

. . .

When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days,

it became known that he was at home.

Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them,

not even around the door,

and he preached the word to them.

They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.

Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd,

they opened up the roof above him.

After they had broken through,

they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him,

“Child, your sins are forgiven.”

Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves,

“Why does this man speak that way?  He is blaspheming.

Who but God alone can forgive sins?”

Jesus immediately knew in his mind what 

they were thinking to themselves, 

so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?

Which is easier, to say to the paralytic,

‘Your sins are forgiven,’

or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’?

But that you may know

that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”

–he said to the paralytic,

“I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.”

He rose, picked up his mat at once, 

and went away in the sight of everyone.

They were all astounded

and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”