Homily

In today’s Gospel of the healing of the paralytic, with whom did your relate? Was it possibly one of the persons in the crowd? Maybe you were near the door and were one of the persons who heard about Jesus’ coming home and you were desperate to see him. Maybe you were hoping for a miracle. If you didn’t connect with one of the crowd, then who?

Maybe you connected with one of the men who carried the paralytic to Jesus. Maybe you were the paralytic’s friend and you had heard about Jesus of Nazareth and his amazing powers to heal. Maybe you had already seen Jesus heal the leper. Maybe you had been following Jesus for some time and had convinced your three other friends to help you take your paralytic friend to be healed and have his sins forgiven. By the way, did you notice that the paralytic man says nothing and demonstrates no faith? Interesting, no? Who were the ones who had the faith? The four men carrying the paralytic.

Maybe you connected with the paralytic. Was that you on the mat begging for food and a money day after day? Has sin so gripped your heart that you have become paralyzed to seek forgiveness? Do you think your sins are too deep or too serious to be forgiven? And even if they could be forgiven, they haunt you and you won’t forgive yourself?

Maybe if you didn’t connect with any of these previous characters, maybe you connected with Jesus himself. Have you been the healing force in someone’s life recently? Did you have the chance to forgive someone who had done wrong to you? Or maybe you needed to ask forgiveness from someone else? As a baptized Christian, God can use you in a special way to touch others and heal.

Next week, we will be spending time offering our money to the Archbishop’s Catholic Appeal. through that appeal, many parishes and other ministries throughout the archdiocese will be given the chance to touch and heal people. Here at St. Anthony’s, we have received $10,000 to fund our Hispanic Ministry. Additionally, we received over $3,000 for our Newman Club. Your financial assistance and participation is needed for this very important pledge.

When looking back at the Gospel for today, maybe you connected with one of the Scribes who didn’t believe in Jesus even after he performed all his miracles. You know, some people don’t believe that the Archbishop’s Catholic Appeal will be going to all the ministries it reports to be going to, but instead to lawyers for the bankruptcy. Nothing could be further from the truth. I assure you that your giving will come back to us and will also help other parishes in worse shape reach out to heal. Will you help? Next week, during the homily time, Sr. Juana and I will step you through the process of gathering your pledges in order to participate in the Archbishop’s Catholic Appeal. Some of you may have already received them in the mail. You can mail those in directly or fill out your pledge card during Mass next week.

Today, when you receive Christ in the Eucharist, let him encourage your heart to help someone else. Let him soften your heart. Let him heal you. Let him fill your heart so that you can be Christ for someone else. For through this gift, you can be another witness to the healing power of Christ.