Daily Gospel Reflection for January 18, 2019

Today's Gospel: Mark 2:1-12 I'll never forget the day I saw my husband and his three brothers carry the casket of their father, a paralytic due to polio, down the aisle of the church for his funeral. Believing in faith that he was finally healed, that the Lord might say to him upon his entrance to heaven, "Rise, pick up your mat, and [come] home" and he would walk into eternity. This Gospel passage was read at his funeral and always makes me think of him. My father-in-law did not have the physical healing of his paralysis in this earthly life, but he did find the spiritual healing Jesus offers in the Gospel. I think he would agree with me that much of this was due to the prayer and persistence of his wife. She carried him to Jesus throughout their lives by her devout prayer life and her example of unconditional love and sacrifice. In a similar way, the healing in today’s Gospel was due to the faith of the paralytic's friends. Those four men who carried the weight of their friend, broke through the roof, and brought him before the Lord...Jesus said it was their persistence and faith that brought forth the miracle. We all have people in our lives who need healing, physical or spiritual. This Gospel gives us hope that our prayers and faith for others make a difference. Don't give up. You are carrying them to Jesus. He knows the load is heavy and that walls (or roofs!) are hard to break through, but we can trust He is waiting with healing hands and loving arms for our loved ones.