[Salvation]

The Paralytic

 

by Food For Thought on December 10, 2012 · 

In today’s reading, Isaiah describes the joyous return of God’s people from exile in a heathen country to freedom in their God-given homeland. The beauty and the bounty of their land Isaiah describes in Messianic terms: the desert will run with streams of life-giving water, the parched land will blossom with an abundance of flowers. The blind, the deaf, the lame and the mute, all will be cured. Those who are frightened will cast off their fears, for God will come to them and be with them; he will save them. The age of the Messiah will be an age of abundance, of health and wholeness for all, of security rooted in God’s loving protection.

In the Gospel, Jesus, by forgiving the paralytic’s sins and curing him, indicates that he is inaugurating the Messianic age promised by Isaiah in the first reading. But Jesus is only inaugurating the Kingdom, he is not establishing it in its fullness. Sin still mingles with good in this world, the selfish lust for wealth and power lives side by side with and contradicts the Messianic values: widespread abundance equally shared by all, health of body and spirit, wholeness.

The chosen people’s journey back to Jerusalem required first of all a conversion: sorrow for sins, a determination to live a new and committed life, forgiveness by God. In the Gospel you’ll find the same reality: the paralytic is cured of his affliction only after his sins had been forgiven.

[Salvation]

One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

 

<< Monday, December 10, 2012 >>

Isaiah 35:1-10
View Readings

Psalm 85:9-14

Luke 5:17-26

THE MIRACLE ROAD HOME

"A highway will be there, called the holy way." —Isaiah 35:8

 

You're paralyzed (see Lk 5:18ff). One or two or even several miracles wouldn't help you that much. Your situation is beyond that. You need people to carry you. Considering the crowd, how can you even get close to Jesus? If you did get close, there's still your sins; besides that, there's the scribes and Pharisees to contend with. You have problems on your problems. You need more than a miracle; you need a series of coordinated, perfectly timed miracles. Don't give in to despair; don't refuse to try. The Lord will work as many miracles as you need, in the order needed, and at the times necessary.

You're a Jewish exile in Babylon. Even if you tried to escape, there is a desert between you and your homeland (see Is 35:1ff) and no road through the desert. You don't have any food, you're too weak and afraid (see Is 35:3-4), and you've been in exile for over forty years. Even if you tried, there are the wild animals (see Is 35:7). You have abandoned even the idea of not giving up.

Don't give in to despair; don't refuse to try. Jesus promises you a series of several perfectly arranged and timed miracles. Get on the holy highway (Is 35:8). Return home to Jesus, His Church, your spouse, your marriage, your parents, freedom, peace, hope, and life. Come home for Christmas.

 

Prayer: Father, may I let You miraculously get me home for Christmas.

Promise: "My friend, your sins are forgiven you." —Lk 5:20

Praise: Jesus delivered Carl from addictions to drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Now Carl devours the Scriptures instead (Jer 15:16).