December 6, 2004
Monday of the Second Week of Advent
Father Jason Koch, LC

Luke 5:17-26
One day as Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there, and the power of the Lord was with him for healing. And some brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; they were trying to bring him in and set him in his presence. But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “As for you, your sins are forgiven.” Then the scribes and Pharisees began to ask themselves, “Who is this who speaks blashemies? Who but God alone can forgive sins?” Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them in reply, “What are you thinking in your hearts? Which is easer to say, ‘your sins are forgiven,’ or to say,’ Rise and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he said to the one who was paralyzed, “I say to you, rise pick up your stretcher, and go home.” He stood up immediately before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God, and, struck with awe, they said, “We have seen incredible things today.”

Introductory Prayer:Lord, thank you once again for giving me this moment to spend time with you in prayer. Help me to make you truly the center, the most important thing in these minutes of prayer time. Help me to detach myself from anything that might distract me from you or keep me from uniting myself with your most holy will. Grant me the grace to put order in my priorities in life.

Petition:O Lord, grant that all my actions today may glorify you and may draw many souls to your love. Help me to be consciously growing in my spiritual life.

1. They Brought a Man Who Was Paralyzed. One of the greatest things in life is becoming aware of the gifts we have received from God and using them for the good of others. We often can wonder about the paralyzed man and how he became so. Was he born paralyzed? Maybe he had an accident? Was he responsible for the situation in some way? Did it come suddenly or was it gradual? In our spiritual lives, we can unfortunately become paralyzed. Sometimes our human respect and vanity confines us to our stretcher and comfort zone. Christ wants to be my everything and can help me overcome the tendency to vanity.

2. Your Sins are Forgiven.Seeing the faith of the men, Christ acknowledges them and says to the paralyzed man, “Your sins are forgiven.” How the man must have longed to hear these words and feel the peace of soul that it brings. Only a person centered on himself would question the validity of Christ’s assertion. The Pharisees and scribes begin murmuring, and Christ in order to prove that he has the power to forgive sins makes a further show of love for the paralyzed man: he heals him of his paralysis. Christ will always be there to bring us closer to him, and through the sacrament of reconciliation, he shows us the depth of his love by forgiving us our sins.

3. Rise and Walk! Once forgiven of his sins the burden is lifted from the man. His newfound dignity demands that he hold his head up high. Christ’s generosity is beyond our imagination and surpasses ours by far. Christ tells him to rise and walk, to take up the stretcher and move on in life. Christ invites us everyday to grow in our virtue and soar like an eagle to the heights of holiness. Sin ties us down and makes us slaves to our passions, emotions and insecurities. By receiving absolution in confession, the chain is cut and once again we are freed in Christ to fly high. All we need to do is trust in God’s mercy.

Dialogue with Christ: Jesus, I realize today that your love is forgiving and that you truly can forgive my sins through the sacrament of reconciliation. You know that I have not always appreciated this sacrament as I ought. Help me to understand and trust more in your mercy and love. Help me prepare for your coming and make a good confession always and on a regular basis.

Resolution: I will set aside time in my schedule in order to go to confession this week, and today I will start preparing for this encounter.