Daily Scripture Reflection for 2/19/12

Scripture: Lectionary 85. Feb. 19, 2012. Isaiah 43:18-19.21-22.24-25. Psalm 41:2-3.4-5.13-14. Mark 2:1-12

When was the last time you heard a sermon or homily about sin? The topic is rarely treated and yet the Scriptures present it quite often. Today’s Scriptures are addressing the issue of sin. The Scriptures give us the living voice of Jesus and of the patriarchs and prophets. They are the divine U-Tube for attracting our attention and making us think and do something. We are to begin anew and this can start as the Psalm says by singing a new song. God is doing something within us when we deal with the confrontation of our sins.

Some are haunted by the sins and mistakes of the past. The new song is that through spiritual guidance and the sacrament of reconciliation these sins are forgiven and there is no need to turn back to them or remember them out of fear of punishment. The chapter of that book of our life is written and is closed. We are to realize that God wants us to do new things with our lives and to let the past go. That part of our story in our personal book is closed; we move on with a new song to the Lord.

Our psalm today is similar to a sung act of contrition. When we are finished with the singing of the psalm we move on to the new chapters in our book of life with God and Jesus.

In the healing of the paralytic we see that Jesus has the power not only to heal the man of his affliction but also to forgive sins. His healing is a confirmation that Jesus does forgive sins and saves us from sinning again if we focus on his presence in our lives at the present moment.

The beautiful passage from St. Paul shows us Jesus always singing a new song that begins with YES and ends with Yes. There is neither a “no” a “maybe” in his song. God’s word is always a Yes in Jesus. Conversion and repentance are a Yes that helps us prepare for the season of Lent. We realize that Jesus learned how to say YES to the Father from his earliest years and carries it through the rest of his life. The last book of the New Testament encases that YES in Jesus’ being the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of a new song. His mother’s first mention in the Scriptures is her YES to the Lord in the Annunciation.( Luke 1: 38). No wonder Jesus learned how to say YES at an early age and continued to sing it in the new song of his life. We can come to new life this Lent and learn how to sing the new song of YES to God. Amen.