Thursday of the Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time
Amos faces the wrath of people who are unwilling to listen to the truth, these being Amaziah and King Jeroboam. Amos tells them the truth about what will befall Israel, and they do not listen. Truth is something that people take in small doses, but don’t want to have in full. Amos courageously perseveres in telling the truth and was vindicated in the end. Israel would be “divided by the measuring line” and its people taken away “to an unclean land.”
Oftentimes, people who speak the truth don’t find an easy road before them. One feels a desire to speak or teach the truth and act on it, and then people will push against them. Just see how Jesus today wants to heal the man who is brought in crippled on a stretcher. He tells the man his sins are forgiven, and the people around him are abhorrent to this idea. Jesus demonstrates in this Gospel that the health of the soul is more important than anything else. He does heal the paralyzed man of his infirmity in the end. Jesus had healed him both in body and in soul. The soul’s healing was more important.
So, it must be said again, speak the truth. And more importantly, live the truth. So many times we finite human beings act as if we have arrived at Heaven already and know the whole truth. We claim to have “all the knowledge.” This is often a pretext for disaster. Again, people resist hearing the truth. This may be a result of them believing that they’ve already found the truth. Then they would need to be awakened from their slumber to see the bright sun, which is truth itself.
This all applies to you and me as well. We never have a full grasp of the truth while we walk this Earth. I need humility to always be seeking truth. We all need humility on this quest for truth. When we sincerely seek to find the truth and to live by it, we then find God willing to forgive our sins and grant us His infinite and everlasting mercy.
“Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.” Jesus grants mercy to the paralyzed man. Are you ready to accept the truth of the Gospel and embrace Jesus’ mercy? Do you believe Jesus who says you can “rise, pick up your mat, and walk?”
Reflection by Br. Matthew Marie, OSB
Posted in Articles for Lent, Daily Reflections, Lenten Resources