John 15:26-16:4 A Feast of St. Athanasius

Can we testify to the Lord?  Are we willing to share our faith with others through word and deed?  In working with Confirmanti on their Confirmation retreat they were asked, "What comes next?  Are you going to keep practicing your faith, or are you going to stop attending church and do other things?"  The kids were kind of shocked by the question.  They had the choice??  Then they started wondering what the catch was.  They were in charge of their faith, not their parents.  They were beginning to understand. 

As newly confirmed people, how did they plan on nurturing their faith?  This took more discussion and self reflection.  What did they need to continue to grow spiritually?  How could they grow spiritually?  In the course of discussion forgiveness came-up.  Different types of situations needed deeper forgiveness, some situations, like murder, they were unsure that they could ever forgive.  St. Paul was mentioned and the great forgiveness that Ananias had only through the help of the Holy Spirit in order to forgive Paul and to heal him.  The Holy Spirit, our Advocate, our Helper, is needed daily in inspiring us to love and forgive and heal.  Wow, sounds like Christ.  The Spirit is here to help us carry on Christ's work. 

In their written reflections, how did they decide they could be nourished in their faith?  By continuing to receive Christ in the Eucharist and Gospels at mass; through sharing their faith with others, especially their younger siblings and to those random strangers who asked them questions about their faith, they would try their best; they would continue to honor their parents and families with love; they would try to live their lives as good people and in doing so, hopefully the Spirit would walk with them and they could be a light to others.  They are a great group of kids.  Our kids are the future of our church.  May God bless them and guide them on right paths. Amen.

Luke 5:17-26

In a Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) class years ago we were told about an unfortunate incident where a woman was raped on the street in front of her house.  Most of her neighbors were home and they did not help or call the police.  Afterwards they sent her cards of apology for their inaction stating that they didn’t believe that they could help in any way and they felt helpless.  The point of our instructor telling us the story was to have us understand that we truly needed to believe that we could help, otherwise we needed to walk away and call for help from someone else: To help someone we needed to have faith because in administering CPR once it is begun you aren’t supposed to stop unless someone, like an emergency medical technician, is there to take over for you.

In direct contrast in today’s Gospel reading we hear about the friends who came to the aid of their paralytic friend and even when they couldn’t get their friend into the house where Jesus was preaching and healing, they found another way and they gently lowered him.  They had faith.  They believed that Jesus could heal.  They believed that they could help make this a reality for their friend.  We know that Jesus healed him because he was able to pick-up his stretcher and leave, but Jesus also forgave him his sins.

Jesus never had to say that he was God.  He showed it through his actions and words.  The scribes and Pharisees are the ones who tell us, “Who but God alone can forgive sins?”  Jesus responds to them and asks, “Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say ‘Rise and walk’?”  There is a phrase ‘Putting a band-aide on a problem.’  For this man to have only been physically healed would have been this sort of superficial solution.  God heals hearts when he forgives.  At healing masses there is sometimes a concern that those receiving the Sacrament of Anointing may faint because of the Spirit that moves through the profound belief of the recipients.  May we all give glory and praise to God in his mercy to “forgive us our sins…and deliver us from all evil.”  Amen.