First Reading: Gn 22:1-19; Psalm: 116. R. v. 9; Gospel: Mt 9:1-8

THE BLACK DOT

BY FR VALENTINE NNAMDI EGBUONU, MSP

The goodwill of Jesus in today’s gospel was met with two contrasting reactions which is not different from what we occasionally experience in life. Jesus had just left the district of Gadarenes where he was sent away for healing two demoniacs which led to the drowning of a herd of swine. When he arrived to his own city at Capernaum, they brought a paralytic to him for healing. Seeing the faith of these people who brought the sick man, Jesus forgave the sins of the paralytic and commanded him to rise, take up his bed and go home. And the paralytic rose up and went home healed.

At first, it was some of the scribes who frowned at Jesus’ style of healing. They accused Jesus of blasphemy instead of glorifying God for making a sick man whole again. They prioritised ill will over good news and refused to acknowledge the healing of this man. On the contrary, the crowds reacted differently. When they saw the miracle that happened before their eyes, they were marvelled and glorified God who had given such authority to Jesus. This contrasting reaction of the crowd was enough rebuke to the scribes.

Often times in life we pay more attention to negative comments and criticisms especially the ones coming from those who do not mean well for us. And we forget that there are so many other people who though are silent but are appreciative and encouraged by the work we do. If a white plain sheet of paper with a black dot on it was given to us; our minds would easily focus on the black dot and less attention would be given to the larger part of the sheet. Jesus wants us today to take our minds off the black dots on our sheet. We should not allow bad energies quench our passion for good works. Much as there are negative energies around us, there are numerous positive ones to say the least.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Lord Jesus, help us to acknowledge and appreciate the good deeds of one another. Amen.