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Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop & Doctor of the Church
Isaiah 35:1-10
Psalm 85:9AB & 10, 11-12, 13-14
Luke 5:17-26
Summary
In Isaiah we read about the path people follow to get to God, followed by the
beautiful psalm reminding us that God’s presence makes our path less difficult.
And lastly, in Luke we read what healing a paralyzed man fully means.
Reflection
The message in Luke’s gospel today is an important and powerful one. The
themes of healing, faith and friendship all grab my attention equally. Wasn’t the
paralyzed man truly blessed to have had those friends? They made it their mis-
sion to see that their friend got to Jesus and they overcame several obstacles to
make sure of it. I can’t imagine how difficult a path and how far they may have
had to carry him, only to be blocked by crowds of people who also wanted to
hear Jesus speak and be in his presence. But these friends were not to be de-
terred; they were determined to place their friend in front of Jesus.The idea
they came up with and settled on? The roof. They lowered their friend through
the roof.
There he was, in front of Jesus, finally. I wonder what the paralyzed man and his
friends first thought, because when Jesus saw their faith, he said,“As for you,
your sins are forgiven.” Were they disappointed? Did they want to shout,“Help,
our friend can’t walk, please heal him.” Or, did they understand that forgiveness
of sins was the main need of every person, greater than walking? I know it’s
easy to become so focused on what seems to be most tragic in our lives and in
the lives of those we care about. We seek the fix for brokenness. This reading
makes me think that we’d be better off if we shifted our focus on what really
matters, our healing within. Jesus did eventually mend the paralyzed man’s bro-
ken body and the man did walk away fully healed, body and soul.
As people of faith and action, we are called do
all we can to bring our friends to
Jesus. Can you think of a friend who needs
healing? Seek him out and help him on the
path you know where true healing begins.