The Institute for Christian Formation
Monday of the Second Week of Advent
December 5, 2016
Freedom, forgiveness and faith are the themes for our reflection this Monday of the Second week of Advent. The Gospel for today (Luke 5:17-26) recounts the story of Jesus healing the paralytic. As Jesus was teaching, some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher, bringing him to Jesus to be healed. They couldn’t make their way through the crowds. But they did not give up! They climbed up on the roof and lowered the man on the stretcher through the roof into the middle of the crowd right in front of Jesus. Jesus offered forgiveness and healing. The paralyzed man was able to walk out of the assembly glorifying God. And all who witnessed this miracle were awestruck.
From what do we need to be set free? What is it that is keeping us paralyzed in some areas of our life? How will we overcome any and all obstacles to open ourselves totally to the healing and forgiveness Jesus offers? What can we do to bring others into Jesus’ presence?
Don’t forget to leave your shoes out tonight for an overnight visit from Saint Nicholas, whose feast we celebrate tomorrow!
James Tissot (French, 1836-1902). The Palsied Man Let Down through the Roof (Le paralytique descendu du toit), 1886-1896. Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, Image: 9 5/16 x 6 9/16 in. (23.7 x 16.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.123. Image: overall, 00.159.123_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006.
Miracles do happen every day. When I hear this Gospel I think of a woman who had suffered from deep depression for a number of years. When I was in college, she was around sixty years old and was once again hospitalized for her depression. Then suddenly she was healed and never suffered a bout of depression during the remainder of her life. She would tell the story that while in her hospital bed on one of the last days of her stay she had a dream and in this dream heard Jesus tell her to “get out of her bed and go home because she was healed.” And she did just that!
What incredible things have you witnessed that have left you glorifying God? Give thanks today for God’s gift of freedom, forgiveness, and healing. In your Advent prayer this day, sing the hymn, “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus.” You can download the score here.
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