Today I discovered a richer meaning of this account. First, I learned this morning in reading the Daily Word Reflection, which utilizes the commentary of the Navarre Bible, that "[i]n this man's physical paralysis, St. Jerome sees a type or figure of spiritual paralysis: the cripple was unable to return to God by his own efforts. Jesus, God and man, cured him of both kinds of paralysis (cf. "Comm. in Marcum, in loc."). Cf. notes on Matthew 9:2-7." The paralyzed man needed his friends to take him to Jesus. Who have we brought to Jesus?
In the context of Father Mathew's homily at Mass today, I grasped that sometimes we have to fix a pallet for family members and friends and lower them into the confessional. When was the last time you invited a friend or family member (who you knew needed to go to Reconciliation) to join you for the Sacrament of Reconciliation? I remember a few years ago, I invited a family member to join us at our parish's Evening of Reconciliation in which multiple priests visit the parish to hear private confessions. The tears that flowed from her eyes were tears of joy; she had been freed from the paralysis of guilt and sin. What a wonderful gift to share with a loved one, especially as we approach the Lenten season!
I often tell the guys at the Joe Catholic gatherings that I have been looking for a shortcut to Heaven for years. I still haven't found one (and I know I won't), but I have gathered from the lives of the saints, that frequent use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is key to a saintly life.
Just a couple of days until the beginning of Lent. How are you preparing?
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