The first thing that Jesus said to the man was, “Your sins are forgiven.” That probably wasn’t what the man expected to hear, but Jesus knew that it was what he needed to hear. God knows that sin can be even more paralyzing to a person’s spirit than a physical injury can be to the body.
Advent is a good time to come to Jesus in the confessional and hear the words “your sins are forgiven.” It is even better if we can bring our friends. The friends of the paralyzed man went to great efforts to bring him to Jesus, and they were greatly rewarded for their efforts. Not only did they see their friend healed, their deed will be remembered throughout history. They did not consider what other people thought of them. They were not deterred by the crush of the crowd. They were not afraid to remove obstacles.
Shouldn’t we imitate their example? Do we have friends who need to be healed and who cannot come to Jesus by themselves – who need a friend to bring them?
Reflection based on Luke 5:17-26
Dale O’Leary
When Jesus speaks of looking for one lost sheep, it also doesn’t seem to make sense – why care so much about that one sheep? But the story of the shepherd resounds with us because even we can imagine doing the same – searching high and low for that one missing sheep. That law of unfathomable generosity is written in our hearts. We want to love that much – giving all that we have for even the one that goes astray.
Only we are not capable of sustaining that love – we lose heart and give up; we get mad at the sheep for getting lost in the first place, we kick him in anger. We think we are the shepherd and it is our job to find that lost sheep. But we forget that we ourselves are the lost ones, and that Jesus’ mercy is for us, if we will only give him the chance to seek us out.
Reflection based on Matthew 18:12-14
Rebecca Vitz Cherico