20201207 TRAVELLING THE SACRED HIGHWAY TO RESTORATION
07 December, 2020, Monday, 2nd Week of Advent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.
First reading | Isaiah 35:1-10 © |
The return of the redeemed through the desert
Let the wilderness and the dry-lands exult,
let the wasteland rejoice and bloom,
let it bring forth flowers like the jonquil,
let it rejoice and sing for joy.
The glory of Lebanon is bestowed on it,
the splendour of Carmel and Sharon;
they shall see the glory of the Lord,
the splendour of our God.
Strengthen all weary hands,
steady all trembling knees
and say to all faint hearts,
‘Courage! Do not be afraid.
‘Look, your God is coming,
vengeance is coming,
the retribution of God;
he is coming to save you.’
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
the ears of the deaf unsealed,
then the lame shall leap like a deer
and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy;
for water gushes in the desert,
streams in the wasteland,
the scorched earth becomes a lake,
the parched land springs of water.
The lairs where the jackals used to live
become thickets of reed and papyrus...
And through it will run a highway undefiled
which shall be called the Sacred Way;
the unclean may not travel by it,
nor fools stray along it.
No lion will be there
nor any fierce beast roam about it,
but the redeemed will walk there,
for those the Lord has ransomed shall return.
They will come to Zion shouting for joy,
everlasting joy on their faces;
joy and gladness will go with them
and sorrow and lament be ended.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 84(85):9-14(Advent) © |
Look, our God is coming to save us.
I will hear what the Lord God has to say,
a voice that speaks of peace,
peace for his people.
His help is near for those who fear him
and his glory will dwell in our land.
Look, our God is coming to save us.
Mercy and faithfulness have met;
justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth
and justice look down from heaven.
Look, our God is coming to save us.
The Lord will make us prosper
and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him
and peace shall follow his steps.
Look, our God is coming to save us.
Gospel Acclamation | Lk3:4,6 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Prepare a way for the Lord,
make his paths straight,
and all mankind shall see the salvation of God.
Alleluia!
Or: |
Alleluia, alleluia!
See, the king, the Lord of the world, will come.
He will free us from the yoke of our bondage.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 5:17-26 © |
'Your sins are forgiven you: get up and walk'
Jesus was teaching one day, and among the audience there were Pharisees and doctors of the Law who had come from every village in Galilee, from Judaea and from Jerusalem. And the Power of the Lord was behind his works of healing. Then some men appeared, carrying on a bed a paralysed man whom they were trying to bring in and lay down in front of him. But as the crowd made it impossible to find a way of getting him in, they went up on to the flat roof and lowered him and his stretcher down through the tiles into the middle of the gathering, in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith he said, ‘My friend, your sins are forgiven you.’ The scribes and the Pharisees began to think this over. ‘Who is this man talking blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ But Jesus, aware of their thoughts, made them this reply, ‘What are these thoughts you have in your hearts? Which of these is easier: to say, “Your sins are forgiven you” or to say, “Get up and walk”? But to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,’ – he said to the paralysed man – ‘I order you: get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.’ And immediately before their very eyes he got up, picked up what he had been lying on and went home praising God.
They were all astounded and praised God, and were filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen strange things today.’
TRAVELLING THE SACRED HIGHWAY TO RESTORATION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISA 35:1-10; PS 85:9-14; LK 5:17-26 ]
If you feel like a desert in the wasteland, thirsting for meaning and purpose in life; or if you find yourself lacking joy in your life because you are fearful of the future; or discouraged in life because of failure, broken relationships and unsuccessful enterprises you have undertaken, then be consoled that the Lord is coming to restore and renew your lives, just as He promised the Israelites in exile. The prophet said, “Let the wilderness and the dry-lands exult, let the wasteland rejoice and bloom, let it bring forth flowers like the jonquil, let it rejoice and sing for joy. Strengthen all weary hands, steady all trembling knees and say to all faint hearts, ‘Courage! Do not be afraid. ‘Look, your God is coming, vengeance is coming, the retribution of God; he is coming to save you.”
With the coming of the Lord, there will be healing for human beings of their sicknesses and creation will be renewed. “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed, then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy; for water gushes in the desert, streams in the wasteland, the scorched earth becomes a lake, the parched land springs of water. The lairs where the jackals used to live become thickets of reed and papyrus.” When John the Baptist needed assurance that Jesus was the Messiah whom he was preparing the people to receive, the Lord told John’s disciples, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.” (Mt 11:4f)
Most of all, Jesus comes to offer us the deepest healing, which is the healing of the heart. In the gospel, we have the story of the healing of the paralytic. He was paralyzed not just physically but he was spiritually sick. His sins were many, so much so his body was paralyzed by the burden of the guilt he was carrying. Besides guilt, he was most probably carrying resentment, fear, anger and skepticism. Many of us are just like this paralyzed man. Because of our past, our own mistakes and foolishness or that of others who have hurt us badly, we have become hardened, our hearts are heavy and skeptical of love and of people, and of course, resentful of God. This perhaps explains why the gospel never spoke of the faith of the paralyzed man. When we are paralyzed by sin, many of us are unable even to go back to God because we have lost hope in ourselves, in people and with God. Indeed, those who are deeply wounded and hurt are so paralyzed, they cannot do anything by or for themselves.
Thus, the first thing the Lord said to the paralyzed man was “My friend, your sins are forgiven you.” This idea that sin paralyzes us is confirmed by the thought that entered the minds of the scribes and the Pharisees who said to themselves, “Who is this man talking blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” It was clear in their minds that the man was not able to walk because of his sins. And so, when the Lord forgave the sins of the man, they were unconvinced because Jesus was claiming to stand in the place of God, since only God can forgive sins. The fact that the man was still paralyzed would indict Jesus for making a blasphemous claim to stand in the place of God.
Jesus knew their thought and so said, “To prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’, – he said to the paralysed man – ‘I order you: get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.’ And immediately before their very own eyes he got up, picked up what he had been lying on and went home praising God.” His ability to walk again therefore confirmed the fact that his sins were truly forgiven by our Lord.
This is why if we want to find restoration and healing in life, we must find time to go to our desert and relook at our lives. We must ask what are the chains that enslave us? What the past experiences and events of our life that we cannot let go? What are the areas of our life that we cannot forgive, either of ourselves or others? This is a necessary step before we can enter the Sacred Highway of freedom and joy. We must take the route of the Exodus, as the Israelites did, out of Egypt and Babylon. Recognizing our paralysis is the first step to take on the road to recovery. But perhaps, you find yourselves unable to get out of the rut and mess you are in.
Then in humility and docility, we must trust those who have walked the Sacred Highway already. In the gospel, we have the friends of the paralyzed man. When they heard that Jesus was in the village, they carried him on a bed. The paralyzed man did not resist. He did not drive them away and asked to be left alone. Although helpless, wounded and broken, he was at least receptive to the help of his friends. He could have given up hope completely for a cure, but he did not. He still held on to a glimmer of hope, and so he went along with them. How wonderful indeed to have such friends or people to accompany us and help us to find restoration. God always sends people, prophets and messengers to invite us to come back to Him so that He can heal and restore us. We need friends who can lead us to Jesus; not friends who lead us to sin and to evil and perdition. It is important to know who are our friends and who are not.
Equally important, if we are to find healing, is that we must find friends who have deep faith in God. The problem with us is that often, the people we mix around with are those without faith, or those with only nominal faith in Jesus. It is said that birds of a feather flock together. The people we mix with can either inspire us or discourage us, show us the way or lead us the wrong way. The paralyzed man surrounded himself with those who have a deep faith in the Lord. He himself had little faith, if any, because the gospel never spoke about his faith but the faith of the men who brought him to the Lord. So deep was their faith in the Lord that when they were not able to get him near to Jesus, “they went up on the flat roof and lowered him and his stretcher down through the tiles into the middle of the gathering, in front of Jesus.”
The result of faith in God is forgiveness, healing and restoration. “Seeing their faith, he said, ‘My friend, your sins are forgiven you.'” Truly, it was on account of the faith of those who brought the paralytic that Jesus healed him. This is indeed a very important lesson for us to take away from this episode of the gospel. We must come to those who have deep faith in Jesus and in the Catholic faith if we want to deepen our Catholic faith. The irony is that many of us are asking and inquiring about the Catholic Faith from other Christian churches, other religions and from secular sources. What can we expect if we do not have friends who have deeply encountered the Lord in the Catholic Tradition? It is not surprising that Catholics who do not have staunch and good Catholic friends will eventually leave the Church because of the lack of support in their faith.
Unless we have these right dispositions, we cannot enter the Sacred Highway to fullness of life and joy. The prophet said, “And through it will run a highway undefiled which shall be called the Sacred Way; the unclean may not travel by it, nor fools stray along it. No lion will be there nor any fierce beast roam about it, but the redeemed will walk there, for those the Lord has ransomed shall return. They will come to Zion shouting for joy, everlasting joy on their faces; joy and gladness will go with them and sorrow and lament be ended.” If we do not turn to the Lord for forgiveness and healing, because of pride, we will be left out of the Sacred Highway. This was what happened to the scribes and pharisees. Even when our Lord was vindicated by God in healing the paralyzed man, thereby showing that his sins had been forgiven, they could not praise God. Instead, they only hardened their views about the Lord. However, the paralyzed man picked up his mat, “and went home praising God” whilst the on-lookers “were all astounded and praised God, and were filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen strange things today.'”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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