THE REST

Fr. Joel Jason f Sabbath gave a very good explanation about the 1st reading today. He said, "In the first reading today, the letter to the Hebrews spoke about the people “not entering into God’s rest.” The Biblical “rest” is an allusion to the rest of Genesis 1 where it said that God rested after the work of Creation. This “rest” is not physical. God did not grow tired. The rest indicated satisfaction and fulfillment over the accomplishment of the Divine Will as indicated by the line, “and God looked at what He has created and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). The need to enter into God’s “rest” is a metaphorical way of rendering that disobedience to God’s will is the reason for the chosen people’s inability to enter the Promised Land." It will always be for our own good that we follow and obey what God tells us to do no matter what the cost and how foolish it may seem, to the world's point of view. Amen. Hallelujah!

Hebrews 4:1-5, 11
...Therefore, let us strive to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall after the same example of disobedience.

We easily forget things and become preoccupied with so many other things. This happens to most of us and we tend to neglect what is truly essential. Let us not ocus on the lesser things but on what should dominate our consciousness and awareness. Let us never forget the works of the Lord. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 78:3, 4, 6-7, 8
R: Do not forget the works of the Lord!
What we have heard and know, and what our fathers have declared to us, 4 we will declare to the generation to come the glorious deeds of the LORD and his strength.

Today's gospel shows us a threefold manifestation of the Divinity of Christ. First is the ability of Jesus to read our hearts and minds. This not a human power, only God can do this. We can not hide anything from God, He knows all our thoughts. The 2nd manifestation is the ability of Jesus to grant spiritual healing. The moment he said this, "Your sins are forgiven" the paralytic man got healed spiritually. We hear these words in the sacraments of confession and anointing of the sick.
God has the power to set us free from sin and set the soul back in union with God. Third is the power of God to grant physical healing. God can restore bodily health and put the body in the right order that God has designed it to be. Evil is the absence of the good that rightly belongs there. It is not absent because of God but because we fall away from grace. Suffering takes meaning from the action of Christ's redemption. Sometimes we miss the point just like the scribes. They did not recognize who Jesus is in spite of these divine manifestations. The paralytic and the 4 men acknowledged the power of Jesus but the scribes rejected it. Instead they accused Him of blaspheming. With regards to ourselves, I guess it is easier for us to say that He’s God at this present time than those scribes, the paralytic and the 4 men because it is a new concept that is difficult to grasp at that time. Do we really grasp the meaning of His divinity that Jesus is God? The 4 men who carried the paralytic had faith that is selfless. They wanted what is good for their paralytic friend and were focused at the good of another that’s why they were able to grasp the power of God. The scribes were selfish and can’t get beyond their mind’s view and not focused on the good of others. They failed to recognize the good that God can provide the paralytic. This is what happens when we don’t accept the Light into our lives and keep ourselves in the dark. Like these scribes who were present there observing inside the house which is believed to be the home of Peter. The Church stands firm in the witness of the apostles and the disciples about the Divinity of Jesus. He has the power to free us from sin and the effects of sin and sanctify our suffering and give meaning to it in union with His redemption. Amen. Hallelujah!

Mark 2:1-12
1 When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. 2 Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, 7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?” 8 Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth” — 11 he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” 12 He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”