“I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.”
Mark 2:11
Reflection
The Gospel today tells the story of the paralytic being brought to Jesus, and not only does he tell the person to rise and walk, but he also forgives their sins. The scribes gathered are amazed at the way Jesus speaks, and all the people glorify God because they have never seen anything like this.
Sometimes we may feel like the paralyzed man, unable to move past some sin or grow in faith and prayerfulness. Jesus comes to us and tells us to rise and walk. Yet even then, sometimes we feel that we can’t, and that may be when we need Confession. When we receive this sacrament, we able to move forward, especially if sin has been holding us back.
Our Lord desires to free us from anything that stops us from growing closer to him. Our attachment to worldly items and sin all paralyze us in some way, yet every day we have the chance to break free by following Christ and letting him become the center of our lives. How is Jesus telling you to rise today?
Saint of the Day
St. Priscilla: died ca. AD 98
| After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. He went to visit them and, because he practiced the same trade, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. Acts of the Apostles 18:1-3 |
The Healing Word 