The Scriptures Offer Both Challenge and Comfort

Homily for Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Today the Scriptures proclaim that the Lord’s word exposes what is hidden, and His mercy restores what is broken. In Amos, the prophet speaks a truth the powerful do not want to hear. Amaziah tries to silence him, to send him away, to keep the word of God at a safe distance. But the Lord’s word is not a possession of kings or priests; it is a living summons that reveals the heart. In Matthew, that same divine authority is at work—yet now it heals. Jesus speaks a word that unmasks the deeper paralysis within the human person: “Your sins are forgiven.” Only then does He say, “Rise and walk.” The crowd sees the outward miracle; the Lord sees the inward need.

Psalm 19 reminds us that God’s law—His word, His truth—is not a burden but a gift: refreshing the soul… giving wisdom to the simple… rejoicing the heart. The word that confronts us, as it confronted Amaziah, is the same word that lifts us, as it lifted the paralytic. It is one word, one authority, one mercy.

This is a gentle reminder that the Lord’s word will sometimes unsettle us before it consoles us. It may reveal a place where we have grown comfortable, or a habit of heart we prefer not to examine. Yet the purpose is always healing. The divine truth that exposes is the same divine truth that restores.

So today we might ask the Lord for the grace to welcome His word in both forms: the challenging word that calls us to conversion, and the tender word that forgives and strengthens. In receiving both, we allow Him to speak the one thing He most desires for us—“Rise.”