Second Sunday of Lent 2023 Fr. Nicholas Carr

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

of the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ. When

I was a child, I was very healthy for the most

part. But as happens to most of us, there were

times when I would get sick. And my mother would

take me to the doctor, and he would diagnose

the problem. and I would be prescribed medicine

to take. And on one such occasion, I remember,

the medicine was a liquid, and it tasted ghastly

and horrible. And the dosage was not just a teaspoon,

but a tablespoon. And I remember my mom holding

up that spoon, and my mouth staying closed. And,

of course, over time, she talked me into taking

my medicine, and I opened my mouth, and I swallowed

it, and thanks be to God, I got better. Sometimes

we can resist the medicine that will help bring

us healing. What about you this Lent? We have

reached the second Sunday of Lent now. God is

the doctor who has diagnosed sin as the illness,

all the passions just being variants of that

sin. In my analogy, the church is your mother

and is offering you medicine for your soul. Have

you been taking your medicine? Or perhaps like

me in my childhood story, you are resisting the

Lenten remedies that are given to us. Today's

Gospel reading from Mark 2, 1 -12 is about the

healing of the paralytic. Jesus was preaching

to a crowd at Capernaum and four men. carried

this paralyzed man to Jesus. And when the crowds

made it difficult, they took off a portion of

the roof and lowered him down to Jesus. They

came to Jesus with faith. And Jesus, seeing this,

said, Son, your sins are forgiven you. And when

those without faith questioned him, Jesus replied,

that you might know that the Son of Man has power

on earth to forgive sins. And he said to the

paralytic, I say to you, arise, take up your

bed and go to your house. And that paralytic

was healed and immediately took up his bed and

walked. He came to Jesus with faith. He was forgiven

his sins and he walked. Imagine the joy in his

heart. He is our example. We are to have faith

in God. We are to receive forgiveness from God.

And then we are to walk with God. The Orthodox

Study Bible in the footnotes on this passage

today. says this, this passage read on the second

Sunday of Lent in the Orthodox Church has a three

-fold symbolism relating to our preparation for

Easter. One, we must come to Christ in faith

and let him heal us of our spiritual paralysis.

Two, we should let nothing deter us from getting

to Christ. who alone can heal us, both in body

and in soul. And three, we must help each other

come to Christ. As a child, I didn't want to

take my medicine. I resisted it, yet my mom helped

me to understand that I needed it, and eventually

I opened my mouth and endured it to my benefit

and healing. You need to take your medicine.

This second Sunday of Lent is St. Gregory Palamas

Sunday. Thus, it seems right to hear from him

from his own homily on this passage. St. Gregory

says this. The bed, that is of the paralytic,

is to be understood as the body to which the

mind which pursues fleshly desires, clings, and

through which it applies itself to sinful actions.

After being healed, our mind has our body under

control and leads and carries it about. Through

it, our mind brings to light the fruits and works

of repentance so that all who see them glorify

God. Do you have faith? Demonstrate it by picking

up your bed, by taking your medicine. Fasting

helps us learn how to grow beyond the passions

and teaches us self -control so that we can walk

with God and be free from sin so that we can

be healed from our own spiritual paralysis. One

last thing. Don't let what you cannot do keep

you from doing what you can do. Don't let what

you cannot do keep you from doing what you can

do. For medical reasons or perhaps our own weakness

or life situations, there may be things that

you cannot do. And sometimes we use this as an

excuse. to do nothing. Instead, determine what

you can do and then do it. Exercise faith. Pick

up your bed. You can do it by looking to God

with faith and he will give you the strength.

It is God's desire to heal us, to sanctify us,

to cleanse us, to make us whole. He has given

us the gift of salvation. the way of peace, the

hope of eternal life. May we all determine to

take our medicine. Glory to Jesus Christ.