The Catholic Calendar for Thursday, July 6, 2006
Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
St. Maria Goretti, virgin and martyr

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Amos 7:10-17
Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 11
Matthew 9:1-8

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

In the gospel of today, Jesus helps us set our priorities. (How blessed we are that Christ was so direct in His teachings!) The gospel is about Christ healing the paralytic from His own town, a man Christ probably knew in the past. The reading states that Christ was impressed by the faith of the men who carried the paralytic up to Him. It is a reminder to us that we make our requests of Christ based on faith--as opposed to rattling off requests like a shopping list.

Regarding the setting of priorities, Christ was first interested in the soul of the paralytic and forgave him his sins. It was only later that Christ healed the man physically.

In the developed world we spend a lot of time and money pampering our bodies. While it is essential that we work at keeping ourselves healthy, this gospel gives us an occasion to ask if we are maintaining a healthy balance. Do we also spend a good amount of time attending to the needs of our spiritual lives? Our bodies give way to the aging process, but our souls last for all eternity!

- Joan of Jesus, OCDS
(jmurphy at utica dot edu)