Isaiah 36:1-10 / Luke 5:17-26
Not many of us like to be in crowded places, such as at a sale or a fair, where there are greatly discounted prices.
Being in a sea of humanity can be stressful and tiring, and manners and etiquette are being trampled underfoot.
Also it is difficult if not impossible to get what you want or take your time to browse or have time to think.
For the paralyzed man and his friends in the gospel passage, to get to see Jesus is almost next to impossible, given the crowds.
It was futile and maybe even hopeless, we might say.
Yet their determination found a way to Jesus. Jesus may even be looking at their innovation with amazement.
And we see in the paralyzed man and his friends a determined human unity, a human solidarity seeking healing and salvation.
It was a sign of a hopeful human race, and Jesus came to fulfill that hope.
It was the same hope that the prophet Isaiah talked about in the 1st reading when he said - Courage! Do not be afraid.
Yes, we need the courage and hope to believe that conversion is possible, that differences between people can be resolved, that forgiveness can be granted.
No human situation is a hopeless situation as long as Jesus is there.
Whether it is a crowd or just an individual, Jesus will still come to forgive, to heal and to save us.