Dear friends,

Unable to bring him into the presence of Jesus’ because of the crowd, the men opened the roof and lowered their ailing friend down to where Jesus could see him. Even with the flimsy way in which houses were built in those days, it surely was a most unusual thing to do.

They were doing this not for themselves, but for someone else who could no longer do things for himself.

Jesus admires the faith of these people. Whether the friend himself believes that makes no difference. When we pray and bring before God a friend, a sinner, a sick person we are doing the same

How heavy a load might each of us be will­ing to bear for one who is a brother or sister to us in the Lord?

"Loads" 'that are borne for the sake' of another can take a variety of forms. At times, the load that needs sharing is the burden of loneliness or depres­sion  or emotional illness. At other times, the load that will be ours to bear is the anger or resentment of another.

Every load, however great or small, is made lighter and more supportable, when it is shared with others and brought to the Lord,

Borne into Je­sus' presence by friends, the paralytic was healed physically and spiritually.

To us it is the bodily paralysis that seems to be the great evil. For Jesus, sin is by far the greater evil. What really oppresses the man, what cripples him in life, is his refusal of God, which we call “sin”. No shrink, no repressing it can heal it, only God can do it. We can repress, deny, hide our sins, but we can not forgive them. Is it not strange?

Only Jesus can forgive, because He is not merely a man, He is God. Jesus has done what those four people did for their friend. He has done it for everybody: He has carried upon Himself the burden of the sins of all the world.

As we listen to this Gospel, we can hear Jesus saying to us: “My Child, your sins are forgiven. Stand up, walk again, be joyful and lively once more”

Whom might you carry into God's saving and forgiving presence today? For whom might you go that extra step?