Carmelite homily for Thursday (Week 13), July 2, 2020 – Lectionary 380 (Matthew 9:1-8)
Saint Mary Magdalene d’Pazzi was an Italian Carmelite, a contemporary of Saint Teresa of Avila, and she writes, “Trials are nothing else but the forge that purifies the soul of all its imperfections.” I think that’s what we see in today’s Gospel, or at least my interpretation of it, when they bring the paralytic on a mat and Jesus says, ‘your sins are forgiven.’ What is forgiveness but cleansing, purifying? That’s the language we use. That whatever has put him on that mat, whatever paralyzed him, or paralyzes us, can be forgiven, cleansed, purged. But it’s those trials that bring us to great depth, bring us to a deeper heart, a purified heart, a rich heart. So let’s turn everything to Jesus and watch what happens.
