Take an honest look...

"They were all astounded and glorified God saying, 'We have never seen anything like this before!'"

Mark 2:12

Pray-As-You-Go had an interesting take on this Gospel today--the Gospel of Jesus healing the paralytic, whose friends lower him through the roof of the crowded house.  There are so many nuggets of gold to mine in this reading, but the new little twist made me really think.  PAYG explained that people in Jesus' time automatically believed  disease and disability were punishment from God for sins--either the individual's sin or his parents' sin.  Hopefully, we shudder at that notion, but it wasn't that long ago, (think--the beginning of the AIDS epidemic), that people actually spoke that way.  PAYG asks if there are still groups we may feel "deserve" the malady that befalls them.  Yikes, that!  But, honestly, do we believe the unemployed are lazy? Do we believe the poor deserve to be poor? Do we believe those on death row are reaping as they sowed? Ultimately, in the words of Pope Francis, who are we to judge? It is not up to us to determine the worth and value of each person, but it is up to us to love each person like Jesus loved.  Let's take an honest look at our own prejudices and pray we can value each life God has created.  Love, heidi

PS: I will be away a few days, so blessings and all good to everyone!