In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!
Two weeks of Lent have already passed, and all of us are laboring and struggling. But why are we doing so? Why do we undertake this labor of abstinence in our lives? If we look at ourselves from the outside, we will see that we are the same as we were before Lent. Just as before the beginning of Lent our thoughts during prayer were not about God, so now they constantly wander during prayer. Just as we relaxed, so we continue to relax. As we envied, so do we continue to envy.
And it would seem that 
On Bodily FastingWe are told: It is no big deal to eat non-Lenten food during Lent. It is no big deal if you wear expensive beautiful outfits, go to the theater, to parties, to masquerade balls, use beautiful expensive china, furniture, expensive carriages and dashing steeds, amass and hoard things, etc.
“>fasting does not change anything in our lives. But that’s not quite true. Sin separates us from God—the wall of sin that we build between ourselves and God. And sin permeates our entire lives. Unfortunately, we cannot imagine our lives being filled with holiness and piety, and we cannot imagine them without sin. If we compare sin, which causes spiritual harm to our souls, with some disease that affects the body, we will see that sin (in the spiritual sense) has absorbed all the qualities of the most terrible diseases.
This sin is ancestral. We inherited the propensity to sin not only from our parents, but also from our ancestors Adam and Eve themselves. Just as they once disobeyed God and decided to live without Him, so we continue to strive to live without God in our lives. Sin is infectious, because when we look at each other and communicate with each other, we become infected with sin. It “cripples” our souls, just as our bodies are crippled by fractures or injuries, and we suffer from them, but nevertheless we continue to live with them.
What should we do then, dear brothers and sisters? Should we be discouraged and despair? Certainly not. And today’s Gospel reading, which you and I have heard, inspires us in particular. It inspires us with the episode that was read at the service today.
When Christ was staying in the town of Capernaum, He preached in a house, with a large number of people coming to listen to Him. There were so many of them that it was no longer possible to enter the house. There was a certain very seriously ill man. His illness was really terrible—he was paralyzed. He couldn’t move any member of his body at all. When the man’s friends learned that Christ was preaching in this village, put him in a litter and carried him to the place where Christ was. When they came, they saw that they couldn’t go inside, because a huge crowd of people both inside and outside the house were trying to hear what Christ was saying. Then they climbed onto its roof. As you know, in the time of Christ in the Orient roofs of homes were flat and made of straw or reeds. Having made an opening in the roof, they let down their paralyzed friend in the litter on ropes to the feet of Christ. Seeing their faith, the Savior said to the man with palsy: Son, thy sins be forgiven thee (Mk. 2:5).
Look at how amazing this is: the sick, paralyzed man couldn’t show his desire to change in any way. He could not speak, nor move his arms or legs. He lay absolutely motionless. But Christ forgave his sins. Why did Christ forgive his sins? Here the Gospel tells us very clearly: seeing the faith of the people who brought him, Christ forgave his sins.
Photo: foma.ru
Dear brothers and sisters, we do not rely on our own strength in our lives; we rely on the power of the Holy Church in which we are standing. Here, we are all united into one Body of Christ. We pray here, as do the Heavenly powers. Both the angels and a whole host of saints pray at the throne of God. And we realize that there is so much sin in our lives that we will never be able to overcome it by ourselves. But we do not lose heart, for we know that we are united with those in whose lives there is both holiness and piety.
And maybe in our lives, like the paralytic we read about in the Gospel today, we will hear the same words from God: Thy sins be forgiven thee. Not because you are so nice, not because you have worked so diligently, and not because you have done so much, but because you have friends whose faith in God is much stronger than yours. And in our lives we hope for such people who are our prayerful intercessors and helpers. We hope that if not by our efforts, then if only through their prayers, their faith, and their intercession, God will forgive us and hear us.
And when Christ was saying to the paralyzed man that his sins had been forgiven, some of the people who were with him in the house started grumbling, saying, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? (Mk. 2:7). Then Christ, seeing through them, turned to them and asked: Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? (Mk. 2:8, 9).
And if we think more deeply about it, we will surely understand that it is much easier to say that your sins have been forgiven. Because no one can see it, no one can investigate it, and no one can know if they have been forgiven or not. The Savior continues: But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (He saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house (Mk. 2:10, 11). And in front of all the people who were in the house the sick man gets up on his feet, after many years of lying down, and begins to walk. All those present were filled with awe and reverence. And they said that a great prophet had visited them.
Dear brothers and sisters, today’s Gospel reading inspires us and supports our Lenten labors. It shows us that we are not alone. It shows us that besides our brothers and sisters in Christ, who stand side by side with us, there are also saints who are close to us and dear to us. And our lives change not only by our own efforts, but also by the faith and intercession of the saints in whom we believe and turn to in prayer.
Just like this paralytic, our souls are motionless. We ask, “What is meant by a “paralyzed soul”? How can a soul move?” The habits of the soul are spiritual. These are the ability to pray, the ability to see the pain of our loved ones, the ability to have compassion and not to pass by someone in need. Let’s ask ourselves if we have all these habits in our souls. And if we look at ourselves from the outside, we will see that our souls are paralyzed just like that man from the Gospel. That they themselves are unable to do anything, that they seem to want, strive and desire to pray, fast, live piously, or firmly believe in God, but in fact they cannot. And, at the same time, the soul can’t live without Him. It needs close people to take care of it.
We know that God is not indifferent to us, that He loves us. We know that multitudes of saints pray with us in the bosom of the Holy Church. They intercede with God for us and implore God to forgive us; because we are unable to improve on our own. But despite our weakness, infirmity, and sinfulness, God expects us to do something. The Savior waits for us to show our faith in something. The Lord expects our lives to be Christian, the lives of people who believe in God. And when we come to believe in God, we inevitably begin to imitate Him—we want to be like Him and to have at least something in our lives that was in the life of Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, realizing all this, we all need each other’s support. We all need spiritual strength. And may God grant that we have friends in our lives like those of this sick man from the Gospel. So that someone might bring our paralyzed, wounded, and weak souls and let them down at the Savior’s feet; so that we may also hear from Him these inspiring and blessed words about the forgiveness of our sins. Not because we are worthy of it, but because there are those by whose faith God works in our lives.
May God grant that it may be in our lives as we have heard in the Gospel today. May God grant that we find the strength in our lives to support each other, to pray for each other. And when we see difficulties, weakness or sorrows in the lives of our loved ones, not to pass by, not to remain indifferent and passive, but act as the people we have heard about in the Gospel today; to do everything in our power to help others.
Dear friends, reflecting on all this, let’s force ourselves. Most of Lent is still ahead: four weeks are left, and we all have the opportunity to change our lives, to work; and not only to hear the Holy Scriptures, but to put them into practice in our lives.
Amen.
Source: Orthodox Christianity
