Friday 1st week in ordinary time
"Mk 2:1-12"
Four men brought to him a paralytic. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven." Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, "Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
The faith of the paralytic's friends helped them to overcome every difficulty in order to bring the man to Jesus. The great miracle was the forgiveness of his sins. His paralysis would last until his death if it wasn't healed. But if his sins weren't forgiven they would last for all eternity.
In August of 1917 Our Lady of Fatima told the children, "pray much and make sacrifices for sinners." We are the apostles of the 21st Century. We have the mission of bringing souls to Jesus, with prayer, sacrifice and sometimes with our conversation. If we have faith, like these men, we will make the miracle of conversion possible. At the end of the day, all we have to do is to put them in front of Jesus and let them discover how much Christ paid for their sins.
A well-known artist in Paris was painting the Crucifixion of Jesus. The last character to be portrayed was Mary Magdalene. He looked for a woman of bad reputation to use as a model. As the woman was posing she saw the canvas and asked what it was all about. Over several portrait sittings the artist had time to explain to her the life and death of Jesus. "Do you mean that He died for my sins and yours?" asked the incredulous woman at the end. "Then I should love Him... And you, how long have you known that?! How much you must love Him!" The artist continued in silence, embarrassed, with those words echoing in his heart: how much you must love Him! And he changed his life that very day, going to Confession after many years of absence.
When Bl Alvaro was asked at the end of his fruitful life which were his happiest moments, he said, "Those moments in which God forgave my sins in the sacrament of Confession." Mary, Mother of Mercy, may I help many to go to Confession.
