SIN  AS  PARALYSIS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 2^nd Monday in Advent is, “Sin As Paralysis.”

Sin can paralyze us. Sin can cripple us.  Sin can cause spiritual strokes and misses.  Sin can weigh us down. 

Say the wrong thing. Do the wrong thing. Don’t do the right thing…. Well then when these things happen we can feel the nag of sin and dumb for days, weeks, and for years….

TODAY’S GOSPEL

This is a message from today’s gospel - Luke 5: 17-26.

This man in today’s gospel is paralyzed.  His buddies hear about Jesus as a healer and they bring him to Jesus for healing. They get to the house where Jesus is - and the crowd is blocking them from getting to Jesus - so they climb up on the roof - remove some tiles. Then they lower him in his stretcher right through the hole in the roof into the presence of Jesus.

It’s quite a scene.

Luke makes the story even better and more dramatic by connecting it with sin - as well as the Scribes and the Pharisees - who have no use for Jesus.

PENANCE SERVICES

This gospel story from Luke 5 is often chosen for Penance Services.

We just had the kids making their first confession last Saturday - and the text every year is the story of Zacchaeus being invited into Jesus house by Jesus himself.

And the crowd whispers: “This man dines with sinners and eats with them.”

I prefer today’s story that describes sin as paralysis.

SIN AS STONES

I like to talk about sins as stones which we can hold onto by putting them into a pack on our back.

We can even ball point pen what our sins are.

They weigh us down. They slow us down. They are heavy.

At times we can throw them at others.

We can throw them at the Lamb - who takes away the sins of our world.

Jesus said, “Let him or her without sin cast the first stone.”

Our sins can hurt others - as well as ourselves.

Yet Jesus can take them away.

CONCLUSION

Today’s gospel tells us this basic message.

Ooops …. Better give some good news as well.

Today’s first reading from Isaiah 35: 1-10 gives us the opposite.

Instead of gathering sins, we can gather flowers. We can  become a beautiful orchard. We can bloom.  We can then run better. We can then be better as a human being. Amen.