Normally, when I read today’s gospel, I’m so drawn to the extraordinary act of love by the friends of the man who is paralyzed, that I miss the first line where it says, “One day as Jesus was teaching …”
Jesus Wants to Teach Us
Amidst whatever is going on in our lives right now, Jesus wants to teach us. In today’s first reading, there is a message of hope given to a people who needed a reason to believe in God’s care for them. They needed to hear that their lives would be fruitful for God was and always would be with them.
At times, we can feel a dryness in our lives, weakened, afraid, and even unable to see clearly the way forward. The prophet Isaiah brings a message from God to us that is very hope-filled. A reminder that God has come to save us, that we will be able to see and hear what we need to move toward and with Him.
Carrying Others to Jesus for Healing
The men who opened the roof and lowered their friend on the stretcher to Jesus found the strength to do so because of their love for their friend and belief in God’s promise. Jesus affirms this as we heard, “When Jesus saw their faith, He said, ‘As for you, your sins are forgiven.’” Jesus knew the man on the stretcher needed to be forgiven for his sins, even more than to be able to walk. This ordering of importance helps us to remember that our ability to reach Heaven isn’t predicated on our physical ability but the state of our souls.
At the end of our lives, most of us will be physically limited, but that won’t stop us from joining Jesus, the Blessed Mother, and all the saints in Heaven. As we take time this Advent to prepare for Christmas, it’s a good time to ask … what can we do to clear the way for our family members to encounter the healing presence of Jesus? What prayers can we say, or conversations can we have, that will lead them to have the faith of those friends of the man they carried to Jesus?
Who Has Carried Us?
Lastly, it is most likely the case that our family members and friends have carried us to Jesus when we experienced doubt, spiritual paralysis, or drowsiness. Who have those people been? Imagine if they hadn’t been there for us. Today is a great day to thank them and pray for them as they did for us.
My brothers and sisters, Jesus has so much to teach us today; if only we will listen with open hearts, ears, and eyes and trust in His healing power, including the power to forgive our sins, in the Sacrament of Confession. What a message of hope for us and our families.
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