Sixth Sunday of Matthew (of the paralytic)

[Mary Naeem]

Sixth Sunday of Matthew (of the paralytic)

The Lord wants to see man’s faith so He can cure him

The Lord desires to see something from man, in order that He might act. It says here: “He saw their faith”. The paralytic was not able on his own to go to the Lord. For this reason, he was brought by others, and the Lord saw their faith. Still he means here that in some way He also saw the faith of the paralytic. He, the paralytic, would not have come to the Lord if he had not believed. And, immediately, the Lord said: “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you”.
On another occasion, Christ said: “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world”. On this occasion it is as though He were saying: “I am here to heal man of his bodily illness, but first and foremost to heal him of sin, the sickness of the soul”. It is a big deal to feel that your sins are forgiven, that God forgives you, and that He has accepted you. Just as your blood circulates through your veins, in this same way you ought to feel God’s forgiveness, circulating through you.
Not one of us should have even the smallest doubt that if the Lord sees our faith, He will immediately answer and straightway give us His forgiveness, i.e., that which we are seeking. In order though for the Lord to forgive you, you have to arrive at the point of saying: “My God, I do not want to sin anymore.”
In other words, you must be fed up with sin, to hate it, just as the saints declare to us.