Readings:
1 Samuel 8:4-7,10-22
Mark 2:1-12
Reflection:
This is my first time writing for the Passionists and upon my initial reading, I find myself searching for a quick meaning, something that will make this reflection stand out from the rest I want to ensure that it is free of fault and makes me look wiser than I really am.
Yet as I read the readings of this day, I am confronted with a message of wisdom. A message of slowing down and listening.
Like the people of Israel from Samuel, I want quick answers. Quick solutions to my problems. I too want to be like the other kingdoms, the people around me that seem to be flourishing.
Jesus offers a quick solution for the paralytic by healing him in Mark’s gospel and by doing so he leaves me with the same question he leaves the scribes:
Can I forgive the sins of those around me, can I accept the faults within myself, and can I accept that I am not perfect?
After prayer and reflection, I come to a simple realization.
If God can make the paralytic walk, then through him, I can be humble enough to accept that I am imperfectly whole and that I am called to love the people around me in the same way.
Even if it takes a little time.
Thomas Warren.