A friend in need is a friend indeed.

My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,

A friend in need is a friend indeed.
A certain immigrant, new in town, attended a neighborhood church for years without making any new acquaintances. Even before the Mass is over, most of them will leave the church. Those who would gather in small familiar groups with old friends and nobody ever seemed to notice him. So one day he decides to go to church wearing his baseball cap. As soon as he took his lonely seat at the back of the church, the usher comes to him and said, “Brother, we don’t wear caps in church here.” “Thanks,” he replies but does not remove his cap. During communion, he goes up for communion and the Eucharistic Minister pulls him aside and gently says to him, “My brother, wearing of caps is forbidden in our church.” “Thanks,” he replies but does not take off his cap. After the mass, the priest who is shaking hands with parishioners greets him very well for the first time and then courteously adds, “But, my dear brother, wearing of caps in church is not allowed.” “I know,” says the man, “but I have been coming to this church, father, for two years now and no one ever seems to notice me.”
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, The point this man was trying to make we could find through our gospel today, namely, that it is not enough for Christians who worship together to call themselves brothers and sisters; they must also show themselves to be friends in deed. A friend in need is a friend indeed.
“When Jesus saw their faith…” – the faith of his friends not that of the paralyzed man – he healed the paralyzed man, soul and body.
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
As historically accurate as this story is, the paralytic is also a metaphor for the individual who is paralyzed by sin. The paralytic is that person who has now gotten to the point where they can't even help themselves by God's grace, to seek His forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance and needs the assistance of friends and loved ones to break out of the cycle of sin, despair and pain that keeps him separated from God. The paralytic is also a metaphor for that person who suffers from a serious illness or terminal disease and cannot help himself or herself. They need assistance to receive the Sacrament of the anointing of the Sick and help in old age or in their difficult condition. A friend in need is a friend indeed.
The persons who sometimes go unnoticed but should cast an impression of us are the friends of the paralytic - the ones who bore a hole in Peter's roof. They overcome their fear of being ridiculed and break social convention to help their friend. A friend in need is a friend indeed.
St. Augustine was famous for saying that each of us has the mandate and the vocation by our baptism to go out and seek out the paralytics in our midst who need our help and to abandon love for human respect in order to bring them to the feet of Jesus, especially in the Sacrament of Penance. We have to lower our friends through the roof of fear and ridicule to help those who cannot help themselves. We can do this specially as we are entering the Lenten season by encouraging others to come to the Sacrament of Penance, encouraging them for coming for the Monday adoration and Friday way of the Cross; by helping to catechize those who do not know their Catholic faith by agreeing to read the Bible together.
The fact is that sin exists: St. Augustine says;"it is a word, deed or desire in opposition to the eternal law”.
The paralytic who is at the center of the story never says a word. We know nothing about him except two very important things. Jesus healed the man physically. And Jesus healed him spiritually – he forgave the man’s sins.
God always heals. There is the paralyzed man, unable to get close to Jesus on his own, stuck on his mat and probably feeling helpless and frustrated. And there are his friends, lifting him up and carrying him, breaking through any barriers that get in their way, determined to do all they can to help. They refused to take impossible for an answer. They believed that “A friend in need is a friend indeed.”
In order for this event to happen, three things had to come together. First, the friends had to be aware of the man’s situation. Then they had to show up, ready and willing to help. And third, the man had to allow himself to be carried. Otherwise, Jesus would have been left waiting and this miracle never would have taken place.
Mother Teresa once said, “Wherever you go, be a carrier of God’s love.”
If you Remember Robert Fulghum’s “Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”? He ends his writings “And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.” That’s today’s lesson: take turns. We all take turns throughout our lifetimes playing out the different parts in this story. When it is our turn to carry others, we are called to step forward and do it. And when it is our turn to be the one who needs carrying, we are called to accept the help that is offered to us, even when that is very hard to do. Sometimes we do the carrying, and sometimes we have to be carried. May God help each one of us to learn to do both with His grace. A friend in need is a friend indeed.
In the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Amen.