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Monday of the Second Week of Advent
1 Isaiah 35:1-10,
Ps 85:9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14,
Luke 5:17-26
Summary
Jesus says to the man lowered through the roof, ˈyour sins are for-
givenˉ.
Reflection
In this Gospel, after Jesus˅ response to the faithful, the scribes and
the Pharisees call Jesus a blasphemer for forgiving sins. For they
thought, only God alone can forgive sins.
Jesus goes on to say, ˈso that you know that the Son of Man has the
authority on Earth to forgive sinsˉ he says to the one who was para-
lyzed, ˈrise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.ˉ The man picked
up his mat and went home glorifying God.
So, what was being said in this Gospel? That Jesus was the Son of
Man and could not only forgive sins, but heal as well? Or, if we have
faith in God, not only can our sins be forgiven but can witness God˅s
miracles in our daily lives. When we close ourselves off to God˅s
grace, not forgiving those who have hurt or wronged us keeps God˅s
grace from flowing through us onto those that we must forgive. It
takes a strong will to pick up the phone
and call someone we feel that has
wronged us, to say ˈI forgive youˉ. When
we listen to this Gospel, it must remind