In our first reading, the prophet Isaiah brings an oracle from the Lord that calls us to be attentive to the ever life-giving, forgiving and healing presence of the Lord.

The Lord told Isaiah that he does not remember our past sins. What he is interested in is for us to do something new in our lives. He wants a heart that always says “yes” to his Word, as we hear in the second reading. He wants to heal us; he comes to give us new life.

Some of us may be beating ourselves up for one sin or the other, for one failure or the other. We may be dwelling in our past and thinking that we are the worst sinners and that our sin is too heavy to be forgiven and forgotten by the Lord. To those of us in this situation, the Lord says he is here with us, he remembers not the past — he is here to do something new in our lives. Although the Lord remembers not our past sins, we must note that he hates sin.

He calls us to be partakers both individually and communally in our healing and restoration. He wants our yes to his will to be yes in emulation of him, who is always a man of yes, as the Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians.

By saying no to evil and no to the forces and allurements of this world means a yes to his Word. Each and every one of us has to say no to all that is not life-giving.

Our Father is a jealous God who does not want a divided heart, as written in Exodus 20:4-5.

We are carried by others

We see the communal dimension of our faith and the call to participate in the salvation of others displayed in the Gospel of the healing of the man who is paralyzed.

The crowd made it impossible for the four men to get the paralyzed man to Jesus, but their faith in Jesus defeated all odds. This crowd, I believe, represents the world and its allurements; the crowd represents sin, pride, selfishness, all of which makes it impossible for us to get to Jesus.

The paralyzed man represents each one of us; the four men represent the community of faith and pastors and bishops. That is why it takes more than one individual to be healed, forgiven or saved. It takes the community of faith as well.

It is our business to be involved in the lives of others; it is the business of our leaders — parents, priests and especially our bishops — to be involved in our lives and rebuke us when we do wrong.

If the paralyzed man did not cooperate with the four men, do you think he would have gotten to Jesus? If we don’t cooperate with those who have been entrusted with the responsibility to carry us to Jesus, we also take the risk of not getting there.

Pray for the grace to be a people who always say yes and are ready to journey with our brethren in faith as well as be ready to be carried by our pastors and bishops to Jesus.

Deacon Albert Wugaa is in formation for the priesthood at the St. Paul Seminary for the Diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga in Ghana. His teaching parish is Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul.

Readings

Sunday, Feb. 19  
Seventh Sunday in ordinary time

• Isaiah 43:18-19, 21-22, 24b-25

• 2 Corinthians 1:18-22

• Mark 2:1-12

For reflection

Recall a time when someone helped carry your burden and when you helped carry the burden of someone else.