Perhaps one of my most favorite scenes from the movie the Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson is that where Jesus fell under the burden of the cross. His mother immediately rushed to his side. Edified by her presence, Christ picked up the cross and continued on while saying to her the words from the first reading we hear today, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
“Behold I am making all things new.” – This phrase can effectively summarize the entire mission that God the Father has entrusted to his Son.
Yet, Christ has carried out this mission not by snapping his fingers, as we would imagine, and creating a new human race – one that is more perfect and not prone to sins. No, our Lord and Savior has made all things new by taking upon himself the burden of human offenses; he carried them and had them crucified with him on the cross upon the hill of Calvary.
Jesus Christ has made all things new not by showing his omnipotent power, but by displaying the power of love and forgiveness.
The theme of forgiveness underlines today’s Scriptures readings.
St. Mark related the healing of the paralytic whose friends brought him to the Lord by opening up the roof and lowering him down in the midst of a very crowded gathering. Such admirable determination!
Interestingly, we find that Christ did not heal him of his physical illness at once. Instead, he said to the man, “Child, your sins are forgiven.”
Imagine, for a moment, the reactions of everyone who was present there. Imagine the crowd turned speechlessly puzzled. Imagine the scribes became indescribably scandalized and furious. And finally, imagine the paralytic himself, who had come in the hope of being healed, rendered utterly crestfallen.
Why not heal but forgive?
It is needless to say the desire for Christ to heal the man’s physical infirmity. The Lord, however, saw beyond what the eyes perceived. He saw in the man a greater need than that of physical healing. He saw the need to be healed first of his spiritual paralysis.
For Christ, a heart that needs healing is so much more important. Because a person who is trapped under the burden of sins, anger, shame, and guilt is paralyzed and wounded in ways that are worse than any bodily sickness.
Therefore, Christ offered the man, first and above all else, God’s loving forgiveness.
Christ forgives before he heals because without forgiveness, no healing can take place.
While preparing this reflection, I find it rather intriguing that the editor of the Roman Missal, from which I got the readings, inserted a paragraph from the Catechism which stated,
Christian prayer extends to the forgiveness of enemies transfiguring the disciple by configuring him to his Master. Forgiveness is a high-point of Christian prayer; only hearts attuned to God’s compassion can receive the gift of prayer. Forgiveness also bears witness that, in our world today, love is stronger than sin. (CCC, 2844).
Why reminding us to forgive others when our focus this Sunday is on the forgiveness of God?
It is because the two goes hand in hand. In forgiving others, that we enlarge our capacity to experience God’s loving and merciful forgiveness, as Christ himself had taught us to pray to the Father, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
A heart imprisoned and paralyzed by the unwillingness to forgive is incapable of fully experience God’s love.
Listen to this beautiful story of a seminarian named Eddie.
Eddie was six years old when his mother, a very confused young woman, left him at an orphanage. Standing on the steps of the building, he watched his tearful mother wave goodbye through the back window of a taxi. Eddie was stricken by fear, anger, and rejection. Suddenly, he wrestled free from the stern-looking woman gripping his hand, and he ran after the cab shouting at the top of his lungs, “Mommy, mommy, I hate you! I hate you! I’ll never forgive you!”
He wasn’t to see his mother again for years. Despite the lack of close family ties, he never adopted a defeatist attitude. Eddie became one of those remarkable human beings who waltz through stumbling blocks as if they were stepping stones. He became very successful.
After some highly productive years, he became aware of a need within himself to serve others in a different capacity. He joined the seminary and the priesthood – a very wonderful priesthood.
Immediately before he was ordained, Eddie performed a remarkable deed in preparation for his ministry. Eddie picked up the phone and called his mother and said, “Mom, I love you and I forgive you.” After a long sobbing phone conversation, the longest chase in years was ended. For forty years, Eddie had been chasing that taxi in his mind. Now it was over.
It is so fitting that we have these readings before we officially begin the season of Lent in which we journey to rediscover God’s love and forgiveness. Let’s wrestle to find that which prevents us from receiving his love – perhaps it is a person or persons who have hurt us deeply and we find ourselves unwilling to forgive. If so, may we ask for the grace to forgive and thus open our heart to the love of God which seeks to set us free.
