A True Friend

A Reflection on this Friday’s Gospel (Mark 2:1-12) - 17 January 2025

In the spiritual life, community, family, and friends are critical. It is about “US,” the Body of Christ. Increasingly the culture emphasizes individualism apart from community in seeking God. For example, I have often heard people tell me that they don’t need the Church; they have a “personal relationship” with Jesus. This is never what God intended.

God states our need for community clearly when He says, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him. (Genesis 2:18 NABRE) We hear later in the book of Sirach that faithful friends are a “sturdy shelter,” “a treasure beyond price,” a “life-saving medicine,” and that those who fear God must find them. (Sirach 6:14–16 NABRE)

Jesus does not go out alone but forms a group of disciples and sends them out in community to help each other and the Church as they spread the Gospel. He prays that they act as “one,” in unity, as He and the Father are one. (John 17:20–21) This is a friendship bound tightly in love.

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. (John 15:13–14 NABRE)

Friendships in communities of faith are important! St Paul calls the Church the body of Christ where every member is essential and called to work as one. (1 Corinthians 12:12–26) He also talks to us of a great cloud of witnesses, heavenly friends, cheering for us on earth. (Hebrews 12:1–2) They are our community, friends. Earthly death cannot break eternal friendships. Our faith is never about just me and Jesus. It is about us and Jesus. We are not called to love God alone but both, God and our neighbor, community!

In the Gospel of Mark 2:1-12, we see the importance of friendship in action. The friends of a paralytic will not let the crowds, and the wall of a house, keep them from bringing their friend to Jesus. They are willing to climb to the roof and dig through it. No obstacle will defeat love! Without their friendship the paralytic would have no hope.

Houses in the time of Jesus were often built of one or two rooms. The roof was used for sleeping or storage. It was only assessable through climbing stairs on the outside of the building. The roofs were thickly layered with wood, thatch, and clay. It was no easy feat to dig through a roof. But for a friend no obstacle is too great.

It also took a certain willingness to risk anger against those who were digging. Imagine Jesus and the crowds standing in the house as dirt rains down as a hole is opened in the roof above. The owner probably watched in horror as these friends demolished the roof of his home. Yet, nothing was more important than to place their friend directly in front of Jesus. They would risk anything for his healing.

Jesus rewards the efforts of the friends of the paralytic. “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5 NABRE) Jesus speaks of the faith of both, of the paralytic and of the faith of a community of friends in the process of healing and redemption.

Our faith is never just personal because love by definition is oriented towards others. Love of God is never complete outside of community. The act of digging through the roof symbolizes our need to sometimes break societal norms or overcome personal barriers as a community of friends to access God’s mercy and grace.

It may seem odd that today’s Gospel is proclaimed on the Memorial of St Anthony, the Abbot. St Anthony, after all, spent years in solitude seeking God. Yet, his action and prayer like a magnet of grace attracted others to a life dedicated to God, prayer, and each other. As we grow closer to God, a community is the natural result. In a sense, St Anthony gave us a perfect picture of communal love.

Our faith is never about just a personal relationship with Jesus. Seek out those who also seek God and then start digging. Persevere in caring for those who do not yet know or misunderstand who Jesus is. Keep digging together for life depends on it. Be a “sturdy shelter,” “a treasure beyond price,” and a “life-saving medicine,” a true friend of Jesus and your neighbor.