Homily for Thursday, 2 July 2015– Ferial

Thursday of the 13th week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Genesis 22:1b-19;  Psalm 115:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9; Matthew 9:1-8

Have you ever encountered somebody (or have you been somebody) who trusts another person; trusts you; trusts God to the point that this person would do anything for the person she or he trusts? Can this kind of unfailing trust not sometimes appear to us to be naïve?

We hear in our readings today of people with great depth of trust in another. First we hear of Abraham, who has such faith in God that he is willing to sacrifice his only son, Isaac on a makeshift altar in the wilderness of Moriah. And then we hear in Matthew’s Gospel reading of the trust some in the crowds had in Jesus’ ability to heal a paralytic whom they bring to Jesus “on a stretcher.” Matthew contrasts the trust in Jesus of those who bring the paralytic to him and the lack of trust; the lack of faith of “some of the scribes,” those we would expect to have the deepest trust and faith in God but do not.

On the surface, does our Gospel reading of Jesus’ healing of the paralytic not seem much more believable to us than Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis? To me it seems far-fetched that God would ask of Abraham, and Abraham would be willing to carry out, the sacrifice of his only son, only to have a “messenger” of the LORD stop him just as he is about to kill Isaac. Would God ask this of Abraham after promising Abraham and Sarah for many years that they would have a child together; that this child would be the first of many descendants, numbered as the stars? I think this would be highly unlikely.

Jesus’ healing of the paralytic is much more believable than Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac. At least the people of Israel in Jesus’ time knew of Jesus’ reputation as a healer. It is not a surprise that they bring the paralytic and many others to him who are in need of healing. If anything the unbelief of “some of the scribes” is somewhat exaggerated here in Matthew’s Gospel. Their charge of blasphemy seems to be illogical; a charge out of nowhere against Jesus, whom many religious leaders of the day felt was a threat to their authority.

But despite the far-fetched elements of our readings, is there not a parallel between them: Limitless trust? Our God’s ability and willingness to ensure our good is limitless, and so are we not invited to have trust in God that is equally limitless?

If we trust in God without limits, God will often go beyond what we have trusted in God to do for us. Abraham trusted that God would keep his promise to Abraham of descendants in faith in unlimited number, even as God was seemingly asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham trusted that, as Sr. Sandra Schneiders, IHM, says, God is not a God of destruction. Even if Abraham had sacrificed Isaac, something greater; somehow life-giving would arise from this. And the paralytic and many in the crowds in Mark’s Gospel are rewarded for their trust more than they could have imagined. Not only is the paralytic healed, but his sins are forgiven!

The reward is great, and maybe even a bit far-fetched, when we trust limitlessly in our God.