Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

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.”

We all need help on our way to following Christ. Some, like the paralytic man, need physical help to meet Jesus where he is. Others need mental, emotional, or spiritual help to find their way to Jesus. Sometimes the help we receive is from another person, who shows us what it means to be Christ-like. Other times, we have a sudden conversion of heart because of an event in our lives. Of course just because we realize that we need Jesus doesn’t mean getting to him will be easy. There will be obstacles in our way, built up over time by our bad habits and misguided relationships. But no matter what these hindrances might be, if we are persistent and willing to do whatever it takes to make Jesus present in our lives, eventually we will be able to find him and be forgiven. Along the way, we will probably need more help from others and further conversion experiences. This is why it is so important to surround ourselves with relationships that build up our faith because without good people to carry us when we are weak and direct us when we are lost, we might never make it to Jesus.

Who are the people in our lives that are helping us get closer to God? Do we listen to their council or to the council of more worldly people? Are we willing to persist in our pursuit of Jesus even if it requires us to give up everything else?

O Lord, forgive our sins.

Amen.