Homily - The Way of the Paralytic

Sunday of the Paralytic
John 5:1-15

Prologue: the Gospel only makes sense within its context.

Rules for living well:

• Do the best you can.
• Always strive to do better.
• When you mess up, admit it, clean it up, and repent.

The paralytic exhibits this way of life:

• Doing the best he could, based on who he was and what he knew (doesn't mean he was doing it right!).
• Trying to do better. Two indicators of this:
  • He had been trying for cures all his life and was still at it.
  • When he encountered a better way of doing things – the way that Christ gave him! - he took it.
• Mess up: change.
  • His willingness to leave a routine he had been committed to is part of this, but the main indicator of this came later:
  • The Lord told Him to stop sinning or things would get even worse for him.

How is it even possible not to sin? It only makes sense within the context of Gospel: the Lord had the power to forgive sins, because He knew we would continue to sin even after He ascended into glory at the Ascension, He gave that power to the ministers of the Church;  

“Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (John 20: 21-23).

The paralytic was doing the best he could; Christ offered Him a better way that would not only heal him, but provided for his continual improvement.

We have to follow his example. We are trying hard to live a good life, but is it really the best we can do? Christ is offering the real path – our attempt to improve our lives should include listening to Him and following His instructions. When we mess up – and we will mess up – He has offered a way for us to recover and get back on track: we have to own our mistakes, repent, and get right back on track.