Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. Mark 2:2
After Jesus preached, the crowd witnessed his curing of the paralytic man. The crowd was large. The man had to be lowered through a hole in the roof, made by four men who then settled him before Jesus. To this day, crowds gather in many parishes. And in their midst are surely those who harbor hopes for the miraculous. In this gospel, we also hear that Jesus forgave the sins of the paralytic, a man who would not have been there save for the generous labors of four men. Very few people experience the miraculous healing of illnesses. There are far more who know the miracles of the forgiveness of sin and the kind generosity of friends and strangers. We may yet look for the extraordinary in life. But it is God who gathers a crowd and works miracles through them. We call it the Church.
Fr. James Stephen Behrens, O.C.S.O.
Originally published January 12, 2018
