Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
February 19, 2006


Who has carried you in your journey of faith?

I have been thinking about the Daughters of Charity more often this year. This chapel we are in tonight was their mother house Chapel. I shared several of their Christmas novenas in this space. I had a good friend who is a Daughter whom I would visit, who would tell me of the hours she would spend praying in this place. Each time I come here to celebrate mass, I realize that I am part of a story that began long before I came to be. I realize that I am carried by a faith that is not my own, supported by a love that bears me to Jesus. One of the truths about my life I have come to know is that I have always been carried. Apparently I was a “croupy” baby, and mom had to walk the floor with me for nine months after I was born so that dad could get some sleep. My time at St. Ann convinces me of the same truth – I am always carried by other people’s faith.

I’ve always wondered if the four men who carried the paralytic man to Jesus ever asked him if he wanted to be carried? What triggers that question in me is Jesus’ response to the man being lowered through the roof. “When he saw THEIR faith…” Not when he looked into the eyes of the paralyzed man, when he saw something of his plight or need there. No, Mark records: “When he saw THEIR faith, he said to the paralyzed man…”

So it is easy for me to imagine the scene that resulted in today’s passage. The five friends are sitting around a fire. Someone brings up Jesus. A lively discussion ensues. “Let’s bring our boy James (In my imagination, the paralyzed man’s name is James) to Jesus. He’s cured others. Maybe he can cure him.” “Aw, guys, I don’t want to be the center of attention. Not any more. People already stare, they already treat me different. What if it doesn’t work? Then it will be even worse. I’ll be even more an outcast.” “Shut up. This is not about you. This is about what we want to do for you. This is about our loving of you, not whether you want it or are worthy of it, or even care about it. You don’t have any choice.”

They are determined to get their boy to Jesus. Nor does the crowd get in their way. They must have carried him often, because it doesn’t even faze them to think about hauling him on the roof and then lowering him down on ropes. Because they love their friend, obstacles are overcome, hurdles by-passed and what looked impossible stood no chance before their combined love for their brother. “When Jesus saw THEIR faith…” Love refuses to stay paralyzed.

Each time I walk into this church, I am surrounded by the love and faith of the community that took root here in Normandy to be a presence to the poor and the outcast. Each time I enter the Newman Center doors, I think of Fr. Don Danhorst and his yes to begin this outreach of the Church to the UMSL Community. I think of Fr. Bill Lyons who lived at the house and served students for 27 years, keeping a faithful presence. I think of Dennis and Betty Chitwood who renovated the basement so students would feel welcome down there. All are people who have carried you and me by their faith.

Each time you volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, each time you worked the soup line for Hunger Awareness week, or slept outside in a cardboard box for homelessness awareness, or worked at the Childhood Center of our Lady, or donated to Kidsmart or gave of your time to care for the house or gathered to prayed, you also became a part of that tradition of carrying others to the faith. For the deepest truth is that we all have been carried in our walk of faith and that we all are responsible for carrying others in that journey.

As we continue to celebrate this Eucharist, I invite you to pray with this image of the four friends. Let their generosity and love and faith help to carry you on this journey of faith. Then look around this parish, to all that we have done and are striving to do – reflect in gratitude on the hands and hearts and love that have carried us and that continue to carry us to Jesus. May their faith give us comfort and courage in our times. And finally, ask the question that the four friends must have asked in their heart over and over again: “Who is Jesus inviting me to carry to him this day, this week, this month, this year?”