Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbot
The friends of the paralytic in today’s Gospel passage demonstrate a degree of faith, devotion, and determination that we should pay attention to. First, the fact that they had decided to bring their paralytic friend to Jesus indicates their belief that Jesus could, in fact, help him. When they arrive at the house where Jesus is, however, they are completely blocked by a multitude of other people. It would have been very tempting to give up at this point. It would have been easy to say, “well, looks like we’ll just have to come back some other time…” But that is not what the friends of this man did.
Instead of giving up, these men climbed up on top of the house, hoisted their paralytic friend up, and then started taking the roof apart. These guys were clearly unwilling to take no for an answer. They were bound and determined to get their friend to Jesus one way or another, whatever the effort required. A question that arises for us is whether we exercise the same kind of determination to remain close to Jesus in the midst of our daily lives. How far are we willing to go? When presented with obstacles, do we simply give up or say to ourselves, “perhaps some other time.” Or are we willing to climb up on the roof and start tearing off tiles?