LOVING THE PROUD AND ARROGANT: 12/10/23 (Monday of the Second Week of Advent)

From the Gospel according to Luke

Lk 5:17-26

One day as Jesus was teaching,

Pharisees and teachers of the law,

who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem,

were sitting there,

and the power of the Lord was with him for healing.

And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed;

they were trying to bring him in and set him in his presence.

But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd,

they went up on the roof

and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles

into the middle in front of Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said,

"As for you, your sins are forgiven."

Then the scribes and Pharisees began to ask themselves,

"Who is this who speaks blasphemies?

Who but God alone can forgive sins?"

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them in reply,

"What are you thinking in your hearts?

Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,'

or to say, 'Rise and walk'?

But that you may know

that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"–

he said to the one who was paralyzed,

"I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home."

He stood up immediately before them,

picked up what he had been lying on,

and went home, glorifying God.

Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God,

and, struck with awe, they said,

"We have seen incredible things today."

Readings for Today:

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/word-of-the-day.html

Reflection:

It’s interesting to note that, as the paralyzed man’s faith-filled friends lowered him down from the roof in front of Jesus, Jesus was surrounded by Pharisees and teachers of the law “from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem” (Luke 5:17). The religious leaders came in droves. They were among the most educated of the Jews and happened to be among the ones who had gathered to see Jesus speak that day. And it was partly on account of large numbers of them gathering around Jesus that the friends of the paralyzed man could not reach Jesus without this radical move of opening the roof.

So what does Jesus do when He sees the paralytic lowered before Him from the roof? He told the paralytic that his sins were forgiven. Sadly, those words were immediately met with severe interior criticism from these religious leaders. They said among themselves, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who but God alone can forgive sins?” (Luke 5:21).

But Jesus knew their thoughts and decided to do one more act for the good of these religious leaders. The first act of Jesus, to forgive the paralytic’s sins, was for the good of the paralytic. But the paralytic’s physical healing, interestingly, appears to be primarily for these pompous and self-righteous Pharisees and teachers of the law. Jesus heals the man so that they will “know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Luke 5:24). As soon as Jesus performs this miracle, the Gospel tells us that everyone was “struck with awe” and glorified God. Apparently, this included the judgmental religious leaders.

So what does this teach us? It shows how deeply Jesus loved these religious leaders despite their exceptional pride and judgmentalism. He wanted to win them over. He wanted them to convert, humble themselves and turn to Him. It’s somewhat easy to show love and compassion to one who is paralyzed, rejected, and humiliated already. But it takes an incredible amount of love to also care deeply about the proud and arrogant.

Reflect, today, upon the love Jesus had for these religious leaders. Though they came to find fault with Him, falsely judge Him and continually tried to trap Him, Jesus never ceased in His attempts to win them over. As you think about this mercy of our Lord, consider also the person in your life who is most difficult to love, and recommit to loving them with your whole heart in imitation of our divine Lord.

Reference:

https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/2023/12/10/loving-the-proud-and-arrogant-3/

Amen +

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, be with us always until the hour of our death. Amen. +

May the Lord + bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. +

Examination of Conscience and Guide to Sacrament of Confession:

https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/examination-of-conscience/

Ultimate Catholic Parents Guide:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ls6IcexZAls

Summary and Defense of Catholic Teachings:

https://www.catholic.com/tract/pillar-of-fire-pillar-of-truth