Sickness is not something that has only to do with the body. When we are sick every part of us is affected and not simply our body. Sickness is not just a physical ailment but very often it is connected with other deep causes. It is not the first time that we visit the doctor and he or she tells us "Is there something worrying you? Is there something upsetting you? I can give you something that will help to relieve the pain and the discomfort. However, you need to look at how you are living your life because what you are experiencing now might recur." Many therapists in the medical field today hold that we have to take into consideration not just the physical side of a person, but also other aspects of the human function. The psychological and the spiritual side. In short today's gospel teaches us that Jesus healed the whole person and not simply a part of the paralytic.
This made me reflect how important it is to have our sins forgiven. As a church we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation which celebrates the forgiveness of our God whenever we ask for it. Unfortunately there is so much misunderstanding and misinformation about the use of the sacrament. Very often we think that we need to go to celebrate this sacrament by preparing a list of sins. Once we have made known this list to the priest we feel that we have done our bit with the consequence that we repeat the same things over and over again. Then we say what is the use of celebrating this sacrament if I am going to do the same things over and over again. This is where time of preparation is important. It is true that God wants to forgive our anger, but He is also very interested to hear what is causing this anger. What is making me lose my temper so often; what is causing my frequent infidelities, why do I keep lying, why do I keep gossiping? It is vitally important to try to get to the cause of our actions; because unless they are taken care of we keep repeating the same actions. Jesus does not want to take care only of our acts, important though it might be, He also wants to get right what causes us to indulge in so much negativity.
It could be that I have a low opinion of myself. It could be that I have a feeling that everybody is against me. It could be that I have been deeply abused in my early life or throughout my life. It could be that I have been very hurt in my life. Jesus wants to take care of these areas first in the same manner that He dealt with the paralytic. The church understands this very well, because during the celebration of the Sacrament of Penance she asks the priest to spend some time with the person concerned by sharing something from the scriptures and praying with him or her. "Lord, you have heard my brother, my sister. You know what lies at the depth of this person's heart. Lord you know the causes for what this person has shared. Come forgive the acts, the sins but go deeper and heal whatever is causing my brother and my sister to keep repeating the same things so that he/she might find peace in your presence". Personally through a similar prayer I have witnessed miracles of people changing before my eyes like you see a rose blooming in front of you.
This also means that I do not go and celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation only or just before Christmas or Easter or before a particular day like a marriage, or First Communion of one of the kids, or a funeral. I go when I need to go. If we are honest with ourselves we know that we need the healing touch of Jesus all the time. Take the first opportunity to meet Jesus in such a powerful manner and tell the priest. I have come to share this with you, but I ask you to pray that God will heal my heart, my spirit, my soul of anything that does not belong to Him so that I will be filled more and more with the life-giving presence of our God. The worst thing is not to fail, but when we don't stand up and run back to Him, when we remain in our pond of negativity and sadness and not seek the way of peace and tranquillity that only God can give. After all, as today's readings remind us, peace of mind, heart and soul affects the well being of our physical bodies.
God bless.
