SPIRITUAL LIVING
Prayer and Devotions
Your Sins Are Forgiven
by Father Jason Smith, LC
Resolution: Make an act of kindness today towards a person whom you hold a grudge against.
December 10, 2007
Monday of the Second Week of Advent
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 men brought on a stretcher one 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 blasphemies? 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 Jesus, I place myself in your presence. I have set aside this moment for you so that you can speak to me and I can listen to your words. Speak to my heart! I believe that you are present, with all the graces I need right now in the current circumstances of my life. I hope in you, Lord, because I know I cannot place my hope in the things of the world. I love you, Lord, and I know how much you love me.
Petition: Lord, help me to forgive others as you have forgiven me.
1. The Persistent Paralytic - A few weeks ago while playing sports, the muscle in my calf popped, causing a very painful interior sprain. I spent a week on crutches. As I hobbled here and there, I quickly appreciated what a gift it is to be able to walk. Far beyond my own meager suffering, however, is the hardship of the paralytic in today’s Gospel. Unable to approach Christ by his own volition, he had to be lowered in front of Christ on a mat. This reveals a profound fact about the human person: Whenever one truly wants to find Christ, he will find him. It does not matter what the pain, the obstacles, or the difficulty. Seek and you shall find. Are we seeking Christ with the same fervor as the paralytic?
2. The Invisible Miracle - I once read a book about an invisible man. The only way people could see him was if he wrapped himself up in bandages. Sin’s effect on the soul can be invisible too, but in this passage we can see it made visible in the person of the paralytic. What paralysis does to limbs, sin does to the soul: It enslaves and demobilizes. Perhaps this is why our Lord healed not only the paralytic’s body but also his soul. Healing the body lasts only until it turns to dust. Healing the soul lasts for all eternity. Forgiveness, then, is the greatest of miracles because it is eternal; even more, it’s a miracle that Christ offers us free of charge through the sacrament of reconciliation. Here we are healed of spiritual paralysis, and the invisible effects of sin on our soul are cleansed.
3. The Key to a Healthy Heart - Nine out of ten doctors agree that eating oatmeal will help keep your heart healthy. But when we have been ill-treated or offended, our heart sustains the deepest wounds. No amount of oatmeal will help that. We have to turn to a different heart doctor for, “Man sees the appearance but the Lord sees the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Jesus is the most proficient cardiologist who ever lived, but his medication is no secret. For those who have a wounded heart, he always prescribes the same two pills: 1) Forgive seventy times seven times; 2) Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. In order to have a heart free to love, we need to forgive. Let’s follow the divine doctor’s orders. He forgave the paralytic; he will forgive us. Is there anyone whom we need to forgive?
Conversation with Christ: “What do you ask most, Lord, of a poor guilty sinner except repentance and self-abasement for personal sins? For true contrition and a humble heart bring forth the hope of forgiveness, the troubled conscience is reconciled, and the grace that was lost is recovered and a person is secured against the wrath to come. God and the penitent soul meet together with a holy kiss” (Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of Christ, Book 3, Chapter 52, 4).
Resolution: I will make an act of kindness today towards a person whom I hold a grudge against or whom I have a hard time being with.
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1 comment:
He is attractive!!
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