SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

2/22/09   Gospel: Mark 2:1-12

“The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”

It took a ton of persistence to open a hole in the roof and lower a man down in front of where Jesus was preaching.  The determination of those men on the roof is like the “keeping on tryining” attitude of Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln had a long history of failure before he was elected President. He failed in business in 1831; the next year he was defeated for the legislature; a year later he failed in business a second time.  He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1836, was defeated for speaker in 1838, defeated for senator in 1855 and was beaten for vice president in 1856.  He was defeated again for the Senate in 1858.  Finally, after all this defeat and struggle, he was elected President in 1860!