A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke
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.”
In today’s reading, as Jesus is teaching the Pharisees and scribes, the friends of a man who was paralyzed lowered him through the roof because they couldn’t make their way through the crowd. As soon as Jesus sees the man, he says to him: “As for you, your sins are forgiven.” The scribes and Pharisees see this as blasphemy because only God can forgive sins. But Jesus says to them: “What are you thinking in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?” And immediately the man stood up and walked. As the Son of God, Jesus speaks reality into existence. He said to the man “Rise and walk,” and he rose and walked. The same goes for sins. As he speaks, so it is done. Sins are forgiven.
God, help me understand the power and authority you gave to your Son to release me from sin. As the Gospel Acclamation says, “Behold the king will come, the Lord of the earth, and he himself will lift the yoke of our captivity.” Sin and death bind and enslave, but through your Son they no longer have the last word because he destroyed death and canceled sin, restoring us to communion with you. And just as the crowd recognizes in the last words of today’s Gospel, I can also take in and respond to with joy: “We have seen incredible things today.”
Lord, give me the grace to carry that joy with me throughout the day. As Jesus the Divine Physician spoke healing and forgiveness into reality out of great love and mercy, I can choose to recognize that as the events of today unfold. As Padre Pio prayed in his prayer after Holy Communion: “Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
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