Faith of the Nameless!

Monday, December 11, 2023

Is 35:1-10; Lk 5:17-26

In today’s Gospel, we receive an amazing faith lesson from unnamed persons.

Two types of people express their strong faith. 

In the first instance, it is the one healed of paralysis. We are not sure if he urged his helpers or friends to lower him on the stretcher through the tiles. But we can well assume that he requested such a favor. On his part, he was sure of his healing if he found himself in the presence of Jesus. His faith was strong enough to come up with the unlikeliest request of ‘being lowered through the tiles.’

Secondly, what is more interesting is the faith of those unnamed friends or helpers who appear more determined to drop their friend in Jesus’ presence. If the paralytic wanted to find himself in the presence of Jesus, these well-wishers made it possible, even though ‘lowering someone through the tiles’ might have looked really strange. Their faith was strong enough to walk the extra mile and do the unthinkable in a way ‘compelling’ Jesus to perform the cure. 

In the midst of those who reviled Jesus, there were people like the ‘unnamed personalities.’ The Gospel ends by saying, ‘astonishment seized the crowd and they glorified God.’ They glorified God not just for the cure but also for the profound faith that they had just witnessed. 

Let us pray for such firm faith in God as we prepare ourselves to welcome the Lord. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar