The first reading is from Isaiah and makes me think again of Rilke. Like how in the Duino Elegies he stops and asks things, e.g., “Do you not know yet?” Here, in Isaiah, the Lord asks “Do you not perceive it?” It being new things, in the desert a way, in the wasteland a river.

Paul is totally incomprehensible for once. Not yes and no, but yes. Huh?

But one of my favorite Gospel readings, from Mark, where the four men lower the paralytic down through the roof. It’s a wholly cinematic moment, one I always picture, with the crowds and shouting and yelling, and these guys totally imposing themselves on the Lord for the love of their friend, climbing up and ripping a hole in the roof and lowering him down. Way to go, guys.

And so Monsignor explains to us our importance, as a community, for one another and to the church. One man couldn’t have carried the paralytic up to the roof, maybe not even two. It took all four. It takes all of us.