Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 2, 1-12

When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days,
it became known that he was at home.
Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them,
not even around the door,
and he preached the word to them.
They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd,
they opened up the roof above him.
After they had broken through,
they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him,
“Child, your sins are forgiven.”
Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves,
“Why does this man speak that way?  He is blaspheming.
Who but God alone can forgive sins?”
Jesus immediately knew in his mind what 
they were thinking to themselves, 
so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic,
‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’?
But that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”
–he said to the paralytic,
“I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.”
He rose, picked up his mat at once, 
and went away in the sight of everyone.
They were all astounded
and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”

There are people who take you to Jesus

1. Spiritual paralytic. Today you could be a spiritual paralytic who feels empty, spiritually speaking. You may not be interested in anything in connection to God, and you might not be moved by anything related to your own life either. You’re just there… it’s like time just goes by, but you don’t get round to making a decision. It’s as if you weren’t excited about life, there are no goals to achieve and you don’t strive for anything. You might be that paralytic who just watches how life goes by and doesn’t take the reins of life.

2. The crowd. There are people who are hindrances to meeting God and there are also a great number of things you must do during the day or during the week, which prevent you from getting to Jesus. That busy schedule you have doesn’t allow you to sit down for two minutes to close your eyes and talk to God. That load of worries doesn’t allow you to look at yourself before God, because you’re always thinking about things that you need to solve or things that you need to do.

3. The path of forgiveness. The young men help the paralytic in the Gospel. There are people who can help you to find Jesus, so that you can get to Him. Be aware that there are good people around you and people who love you. Hold on to those people who lift you up, support you and lead you because they care about you. Accept them even if it hurts when they correct you or say things that seem hard to you, because they do so because they love you. Fight against your own pride! God wants you more alive than ever. The key is knowing you are loved by God and being aware that God is greater than you imagine. He forgives you and wants you to keep walking along in life. Don’t be a spiritual paralytic. Life is short and you have much to do.  

Don’t forget that something good is on the way!

God bless you and protect you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.