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The natural gift of wonder God gave us as children was meant to be kept alive….Instead we let wonder go to sleep. We entered the typical dream state of most humans.
Why else does Jesus tell us today, ‘Stay awake!’…Advent says, ‘Wake up and realize the gifts of love you have received.’
- Rev. Alfred McBride
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IS 35:1-10; PS 85:9AB AND 10, 11-12, 13-14
LK 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 a man 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 easier, 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." USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
"Sitting close by were Pharisees and teachers of the law who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem." —Luke 5:17
Jesus was surrounded by a large number of religious leaders and Bible scholars. It was something like a convocation of priests or a symposium of professors. In the midst of this august
assembly, the roof was partly dismantled, and a man on a stretcher was lowered through the hole. Jesus said to the paralyzed man: "My friend, your sins are forgiven you" (Lk 5:20).
Although Jesus knew that this statement would be considered blasphemy and would turn the religious leaders against Him, He spoke of His
authority to forgive sins (Lk 5:24). He even healed the paralyzed man to confirm His authority to forgive sins (Lk 5:25). Jesus is preoccupied with the forgiveness of sins.
"You can depend on this as worthy of full acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Tm 1:15). Jesus has sacrificed His
life for the forgiveness of our sins. There is "more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner" (Lk 15:7). The heart of Jesus is the heart of forgiveness.
Therefore, repent; confess your sins. May the shedding of Jesus' blood, the giving of His life, and the love poured out in His death not be in vain. Jesus is thinking
of you, and He wants to forgive your sins. Repent of your sins!
Prayer: Father, make my Advent Confessions life-changing.
Promise: "Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the dumb will sing." —Is
35:5-6
Praise: Pope St. Damasus I opposed schisms and heresies while promoting martyrs. He worked untiringly so the Church might be one.
Presentation Ministries
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From Meditation to Contemplation, by James Arraj - Reprinted from St. John of the Cross and Dr. C. G. Jung.
The three signs of contemplation
Therefore, though many enter this night of sense which heralds the beginning of contemplation, few successfully emerge. Since contemplation is an essentially new
experience, it is difficult to get used to. St. John, therefore, sets down three signs by which the beginner can make a judgment of whether he is really being led into the contemplative state. The first sign is that he cannot meditate any longer or find that sweetness which used to come through the exercise of his faculties. The second sign is that he does not have a desire to fix his attention and thoughts on other things besides the spiritual. “The third and surest sign is that a person likes
to remain alone in loving awareness of God, without particular considerations, in interior peace and quiet and repose, and without the acts and exercises (at least discursive, those in which one progresses from point to point) of the intellect, memory and will; and that he prefers to remain only in the general, loving awareness and knowledge we mentioned, without any particular knowledge or understanding.”(“Ascent of Mt. Carmel,” 2, 13, 4)
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