A Homily for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

+ Those who carried the Paralytic of this morning’s Gospel to Our Lord no doubt had hopes or even expectations in so doing. His reputation as a healer was widespread and wondrous miracles had been reported. The paralytic himself surely carried these hopes foremost, even as he required others to help him to get to see Our Lord.

Our Lord recognised their faith. His response was immediate. He said to the paralytic: “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”

For Our Lord, this was sufficient—more than sufficient: it was all that was required. And whilst we do not know the reaction of the paralytic or of his bearers, given their faith we can reasonably speculate that this absolution would have brought great heart. But even so, we can also reasonably speculate that they had hoped for more. We know how the Gospel account continues, but let us pause here for a moment and consider the sufficiency of the words “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven” and what they have to teach us.

It is worthwhile noting the causal connection between sin and physical illness in the Jewish mentality of the time. If we understand this we can see that Our Lord is healing the very root of the paralytic’s illness, not simply its symptoms. The fundamental problem is sin. Sin must be absolved first.

Whilst most medics would reject such causality today, the priority taught by Our Lord here is perennial. The fundamental problem is sin. Sin must be absolved first.

That is why the Church teaches (still—see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1257-61) that Baptism, which remits all sin, Original sin and actual sin, is necessary for salvation. So too, that is why the Lord gave us the Sacrament of Penance, so that those who fall into mortal sin after Baptism may have their baptismal innocence restored through the grace of absolution after making a good confession (see: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1446).

Salvation from sin and its effects comes first—hence the saying that “the salvation of souls is the supreme law in the Church.” That is our business first and foremost: to get people to heaven—not, in the first place, to save their bodily health or to assuage their egos or indulge their false beliefs. Certainly, practical charity and care for the sick flows from that practical love of neighbour to which the Gospel calls each one of us, and this, too, bears witness to the saving Truth revealed in Christ Jesus. But we are not called to operate a globalist N.G.O. or to be an agency of the World Health Organisation. We are called to save souls—our own first and foremost, and those of others in so far as we can in accordance with the duties and responsibilities that come with our state in life.

Thus, as Our Lord’s actions in this morning’s Gospel teach us, sin is the enemy to tackle first and foremost. And in confronting them in ourselves and in situations in which we are involved, we would do well to recall the seven capital or “deadly” sins about which in her wisdom our Holy Mother, the Church, earnestly warns us (see: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1866): pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia.

We would be here all morning and beyond if we were to consider each of the seven deadly sins. Let it suffice that they be named and that we be reminded both of their existence and of our duty to avoid them and the pernicious traps they set for us at all costs. However, a word on the first of the deadly sins, pride, about which St Gregory the Great warned so much and which St Thomas Aquinas rightly calls the “queen of all vices” may be apposite.
Pride is defined as excessive love of oneself of one’s own supposed excellence and achievements. “I” become the focus of everything. My will—and not God’s—is all that matters. We encounter this often enough in unbridled ambition—in the Church at times as much as in the world. And we see it in those who proclaim their own magnificence whilst perusing the narcissistic destruction of any and all who may occlude or cast a shadow on their self-proclaimed brilliance and auto-sufficiency.

We must be careful, though, not to allow the rightful fear of the sin of pride to reduce us to quietism and intertia: our Lord teaches us in the Gospels that we must make good use of the talents that have been given to us, and to bring forth good fruit. But we must do so according to His will and with that humility that gives glory to God, and not to ourselves. For “pride,” St John Mary Vianney teaches, “is that accursed sin which drove the angels out of paradise and hurled them into Hell.” Let us be clear: pride has the same ability to deprive each one of us of that divine life implanted in our souls through baptism.

And so, let us heed this morning’s Gospel: the fundamental problem is sin. Sin must be tackled first. For the resolution and strength and humility so to do, let us beg Almighty God at His altar in this Holy Mass. +