Monday, 11th DECEMBER St Damasus I, Pope. Light is sweet and good to see the sun with these eyes of flesh.

Monday, 11th DECEMBER
St Damasus I, Pope.
Luke 5:17-26

Men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralysed, and they sought to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith he said, "Man, your sins are forgiven you"…Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' 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 man who was paralysed-"I say to you, rise, take up your bed and go home." And immediately he rose before them, and took up that on which he lay, and went home."

Those were real friends! Because friends don't give up. We don't know if the paralytic had asked them to bring him to Jesus, but we know how determined they were to place their paralysed friend before the only Person Who could help him. When they arrived it was impossible to approach Jesus because of the crowd. A 'prudent' person would have suggested waiting until the Master had finished His preaching, or even to come at some other time or try 'tomorrow'…

Tomorrow?! Those friends wanted to bring the paralytic to Jesus today, and were not ready to quit. So if the door or windows couldn't be used…THE ROOF! I don't think the paralytic was very enthusiastic about the idea: to allow yourself to be lowered through the roof by ropes sounds a bit frightening. But his friends were determined and he trusted them.

Some nuns working in a hospital for the poor and outcast once asked St Josemaría to help a man who was dying and didn't want to go to confession. 'I'll die', the man said, 'but I won't confess. When I was 17 I swore I'd never go to confession, and I've kept my promise'. After 15 minutes the man was crying, confessing his sins to the holy priest. 

The nun who told the story wrote: "I don't remember any single case in which he failed to hear the confession of a dying person". How did he manage? Someone who knew him well said: 'with affection, lots of prayer… and never, ever giving up on souls, because he loved them'.

Mary, Health of the Sick, may I be like the friends of the paralytic and never give up helping people go to Confession.

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Commentary of the day :

Saint Gregory of Agrigente (c.559-594), Bishop
On Ecclesiastes, book 10, 2 ; PG 98, 1138

"We have seen incredible things today"

Light is sweet and it is good to see the sun with these eyes of flesh...; that is why Moses said: «And God saw the light and he said that it was good» (Gn 1:4)...

But how good it is for us to reflect on the great, the true and unchanging light "that enlightens everyone coming into the world" (Jn 1:9), namely Christ, the world's Savior and redeemer. Having disclosed himself before the eyes of the prophets, he became man and entered into the lowest depths of human existence. It is of him that the prophet David spoke: "Chant praise to God's name. Prepare a way for him who rises towards the west, whose name is the Lord; exult in his presence" (cf. Ps 68[67],5 Vg.). And Isaiah, too, cried out: "People who sit in darkness, behold this light. For you who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, a light will shine" (cf. 9:1)...

And so the light of the sun that is seen by these eyes of flesh makes known the spiritual Sun of Righteousness (Ml 3:20), the sweetest of all to rise on those who have the happiness of being taught by him and seeing him with their fleshly eyes when he dwelt among us like any ordinary man. Nevertheless, he was not just an ordinary man in that he was born true God, able to give back sight to the blind, cause the lame to walk, enable the deaf to hear, cleanse lepers and restore the dead to life by his word (Lk 7:22).

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