Daily Catholic Reflection: November 7, 2020, Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, Year B

Isaiah 35:1 –10,

Psalm 85:9ab and 10. 11 -12.13-14,

Luke 5:17-26 Full Readings

Saint Ambrose

 Overcoming Obstacles to God's Work in Us

God wants you to begin this new working week with smiles and strong faith in him. So do not allow anything to rob you of that. Learn from the determination of the friends of this paralytic in Luke 5:18-26. The crowd proved to be an obstacle to them but they still found a way to reach Jesus through the roof. There can be a lot of crowds trying to prevent us from coming to Jesus. They can be in the form of doctor’s reports concerning an incurable disease or business that has refused to thrive despite efforts. Listen! St Paul says, even in the midst of all these, you are more than a conqueror (Rom 8:37)! Is there anything, whether Spiritual or physical, abstaining you from receiving the power of God in your Life? Let us endeavour to overcome it personally but also with the help of the church.

The paralytic wanted to see Jesus, but it was impossible for him. He had lost the use of his own body and was therefore powerless to effect his own will. We can experience a similar paralysis when we’re trapped by sin, addiction, or selfishness. We identify with St. Paul when he writes in Romans 7:14-15: “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold into slavery to sin. What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate.” The paralytic is thus an image of our own struggle against the physical and spiritual bondage of sin. But something else kept the paralytic from Jesus’s presence: the crowds. How often we feel “crowded out” during prayer. God seems distant. Plagued by distractions, we can’t focus. How are we to get his attention? 

The paralytic’s friends solved the first obstacle by carrying him to Jesus—and here we have a symbol of Mother Church. When we are faced with problems beyond our strength, we can receive support and encouragement from our family, our community, and other believers. From the sacraments of the Church, we receive the grace and strength of Christ who heals and fortifies us. The second difficulty–God’s seeming indifference–is resolved when we see that the Lord healed the paralytic even more deeply than the paralytic himself had desired; he forgave his sins. This spiritual healing is by far the more important. The physical healing is, in fact, subordinated to the deeper spiritual healing that occurs. “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Jesus, because he loved the paralytic and heard his prayer, gave him both healings.

With the power of God working in us and after we have overcome all the obstacles, we should give Glory to God. The people were astonished. The crowd glorified God. Jesus, too, had glorified his Father because it was the Father’s will to heal the man—the enigmatic phrase “the power of the Lord was with him for healing” would seem to support that. Lastly, we note that the man himself also glorified God. His persistence and faith in trying to reach Jesus flowered into a greater outpouring of grace than expected. God is never outdone in generosity. Are grateful for whatever God has done for you?

Let us Pray 

Lord Jesus, maybe I am not paralyzed, but I need help to get to you just the same. Why is it so hard to put myself in your presence? During my prayer, help me to rely not on my own strength but in the faith of the Church and in your desire to meet me. Amen 

Be blessed