Discourse for the Second Week of Great Lent

“And when Jesus saw their faith, He saidto the paralyzed man, Son, your sinsare forgiven you” (Mk 2:5)

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, traveling from city to city and from village to village with His preaching about the kingdom of heaven, once entered the house of one of the inhabitants of the city of Capernaum, and, as was His custom, spoke the word here. A multitude of people gathered so that it was impossible even to reach the doors of the house. Four men bring to this house a sick man paralyzed in the sinews on a bed for the purpose of laying him before the eyes of Him who healed “every disease and every sickness among the people” (Mt 9:35). But since there was no way to push through the crowd and reach Christ: they went up with the sick man onto the roof of the house, broke through the tile roof, and, making an opening large enough for lowering the sick man, let him down on his bed onto the floor before the Lord Himself. The Lord, seeing their faith, said to the paralyzed man: “Son, your sins are forgiven you” (Mk 2:5), and then, so that by an open miracle of healing He might show the unbelieving scribes that He is God-man, having authority on earth to forgive sins, said to him: “I say to you: Rise, take up your bed, and go home. And he rose, and taking” his “bed went out in front of everyone” (Mk 2:11-12). All the people, witnesses of this miracle, were amazed, and, praising God, testified that they had never seen anything like it. This is the reward from God-man for the faith of those who brought the paralyzed man!

If this paralyzed man had been brought to an earthly physician, he would undoubtedly have considered it unnecessary to pay attention to his sins and would have treated him for bodily paralysis with material, not spiritual, means. But the divine Miracle-Worker does otherwise: the bodily paralysis He heals by means of the forgiveness of sins: “Son, your sins are forgiven you” (Mk 2:5). Why so? Because, of course, paralysis of the soul, that is, sins, were the cause of paralysis of the body. And indeed, all diseases and death began from the sinful paralysis of the human soul. And for already many thousands of years sin produces all diseases of soul and body.

But why has the holy Church appointed the reading of the Gospel account of the paralyzed man? Surely because it sees all of us sick with paralysis, namely spiritual paralysis, that is, with sins, and wishes for all of us to hasten to Jesus Christ for healing. And indeed, we are paralyzed. Every sin we have is a kind of paralysis. And that sin is truly spiritual paralysis, everyone has experienced in themselves. From every sin our heart grows weak, our mind becomes dull to all things spiritual, our will weakens toward good, so to speak, all the foundations of our life become paralyzed, because when the heart, the main force of our life, grows weak—then the whole man becomes weak. That is why the holy Church, knowing how important it is for man to have a steadfast and immovable heart upon the rock of faith and God’s commandments, sings before us: “Establish, O Lord, upon the rock of Your commandments my heart, which has been shaken” (Irmos, Canon of Andrew of Crete, Song 3).

And so, we are paralyzed. And some of us, prompted by conscience, ourselves recognize our sickness and go to Christ to be healed from our sinful paralysis, but others—alas!—need outside, earnest help so that they might sincerely realize their sickness and from their whole heart desire to be healed by Jesus Christ. Ah! if only there were those who would bring these people, like that paralyzed man, by the strength of their faith and by sincerely spoken counsel before the Lord our Jesus Christ in heartfelt contrition, bearing the sins and infirmities that He took upon Himself. He would do these people the greatest Christian service. And there are many among us such as are paralyzed in spirit, for whom there is truly a need for the sincere help of others. They themselves are so weak in faith, have so paralyzed their heart with various attachments, that by their own strength they are incapable of taking even one step in faith and in Christian life.

What then? Is there not among you, beloved, such people who would help the weak, those weak in faith, their brothers? Is there not among you those truly believing who would help the unbelieving with their living faith? Is there not among you such as would instruct the ignorant or the dissolute brother and counsel him with sincere repentance and faith to turn to Christ? You who are weak in faith and live wildly and recklessly, brothers, tell me: do you not wish to be freed from your wretched spiritual paralysis, whose end is eternal torment in the fire of Gehenna? Do you wish to fall before Jesus Christ Himself and be healed by Him? This is very easy. Here Jesus Christ in this holy church every Friday, and if needed on other days as well, receives all those sick with sin and heals them according to their faith through the priest. Every time a sinner sincerely repents of his sins, the Lord Himself speaks to him inwardly: “Son, your sins are forgiven you” (Mk 2:5). What then hinders you from approaching Jesus Christ with faith and receiving healing from Him? Come, be healed: the clinic is announced now for all—throughout the whole holy forty-day fast. It is Christ Himself who receives all. The priests are only witnesses before Him, mediators between Him and you. Only do not forget that you must come to Jesus Christ with a living awareness that you are sinners, that you are powerless and dead without Him in soul, and believe from your whole heart that He is your Creator and Judge, and only He alone “has authority on earth” “to forgive sins” (Mk 2:10). Also do not forget that after healing from sinful paralysis it is foolish and dangerous to deliberately fall into new paralysis. “Behold, you are well”, says the Lord, “sin no more, lest something worse befall you” (Jn 5:14). Amen.