Daily Mass Gospel Reflection - Authentic Faith

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 01-14=22 | Aux. Bishop R. Barron

[MurphsLaw]

First Week in Ordinary Time

Mark 2:1-12

Friends, today’s Gospel focuses on the faith of the four men who brought the paralytic to Jesus for healing. How often the Bible compels us to meditate on the meaning of faith! We might say that the Scriptures rest upon faith and remain inspired at every turn by the spirit of faith.

Faith is an attitude of trust in the presence of God. Faith is openness to what God will reveal, do, and invite. It should be obvious that in dealing with the infinite, all-powerful person who is God, we are never in control.

One of the most fundamental statements of faith is this: your life is not about you. You’re not in control. This is not your project; rather, you are part of God’s great design. To believe this in your bones and to act accordingly is to have faith. When we operate out of this transformed vision, amazing things can happen, for we have surrendered to "a power already at work in us that can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine." Even a tiny bit of faith makes an extraordinary difference.

[MurphsLaw]

+++ 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.”+++

[ebb tide]

Even a tiny bit of faith makes an extraordinary difference.

Unless you're a traditional Catholic, because, after 1500 years, your lex orandi is no longer the lex credendi of Bergoglio's "church".

There's a new sheriff in town.