The Bearer of Bad/Good News

Homily for Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

No one wants to be the bearer of bad news. However, when we consider the lives of the various prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures, it quickly becomes evident that their lot in life is to do just that. For the next few weeks, the first reading for our week-day liturgies will come from some of the classical prophets of Israel. Today we hear from Amos, a pre-exilic prophet who is maligned by Amaziah, one of the priests of Jeroboam’s court. Unless they repent, they are in for some bad news. The Israelites are headed for yet another enslavement at the hands of their enemies.

The interesting fact is that Amaziah recognized that Amos was a prophet, a man charged with speaking for the God of Israel. Because his news is bad, Amaziah tells Amos to go prophesy somewhere else. Amaziah simply does not like the bad news that Amos brings to the court of Jeroboam.

In the Gospel text which we proclaim today, Jesus is also maligned for the miraculous cure of a paralytic. St. Matthew tells us that Jesus’ critics were scribes. Scribes in ancient Israel were learned men whose business was to study the Law, transcribe it, and write commentaries on it. They were also hired on occasions when the need for a written document arose or when an interpretation of a legal point was needed. Ezra, “a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses,” was a scribe. The action with which these scribes take issue is the healing words of Jesus who tells the paralytic that his sins have been forgiven. For the paralytic, this was good news; for the scribes, it was not.

St. Matthew pairs this particular miracle with the paralytic’s need for spiritual healing. This man is paralyzed physically as well as spiritually. Unfortunately, the scribes simply cannot recognize good news when they hear it. Sin brings of spiritual paralysis. The good news is that our sins can be forgiven.