Today we read that, after Jesus healed the paralytic, the people rejoiced that God had given such authority to human beings. The people around were awestruck and praised God. They did not yet fully recognize the identity of Jesus but they did realize that God was acting before their very eyes. On the other hand, Jesus had been challenged for telling the man his sins were forgiven. To prove that he had the power to do this, Jesus healed the man of his paralysis, which, in the minds of the onlookers, was the result of his sin. In our own lives, Jesus continues to give us sign after sign of his mercy and faithfulness. Yet when a new trial enters our lives we wonder "Can we trust God to help us now?" When we hear the words of Jesus spoken by the priest do we truly believe that our sins have been forgiven? If not, then it is time for us to be aware of ourselves. Perhaps if we looked at our own lives we might see that some of our physical and mental ailments are due to a lack of harmony with God, with others and with our surroundings.