Daily Gospel Reflection
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July 6, 2023
After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town.
And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,
“Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”
At that, some of the scribes said to themselves,
“This man is blaspheming.”
Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said,
“Why do you harbor evil thoughts?
Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
But that you may know that the Son of Man
has authority on earth to forgive sins”–
he then said to the paralytic,
“Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”
He rose and went home.
When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe
and glorified God who had given such authority to men.
Reflection
My wife and I recently celebrated our 12th anniversary. Like many couples, we broke out the photobooks and played the wedding videos. This year it struck us just how many complicated and tragic things had happened to the smiling, laughing people in those photos over the years—untimely deaths, cancer, divorce, the loss of children, and more.
It was sobering as we started verbally cataloging them. But set against the sadness and darkness were many other parallel memories; memories of families and friends surrounding the suffering individual and offering support as best they could.
I think of a friend who tragically lost her husband, the father of three young kids, and how old friends from around the country streamed back to town to be with her in that dark hour. I think of a family member with aggressive cancer and the hundreds—maybe thousands—of people who added him to prayer chains, brought meals, and wrote notes of encouragement to keep his spirits up. And I think of my maternal grandfather, the patriarch of our sizeable clan, and the dozens and dozens of his grateful descendants who joined the procession bearing his casket down toward the altar of his beloved Seattle parish.
Today’s gospel makes it clear: “When Jesus saw their faith….” The paralytic wouldn’t be able to make it to the feet of Jesus without their faith—faith put into action by this man’s friends, family, and neighbors.
I’m not naive. I’ve seen enough of the world to know that not everyone is fortunate to have people around them who are willing or able to advocate for them. Still, I think that serves as a wake-up call to all of us to look out for the forgotten and marginalized among us. To bring those people to Christ in prayer, but just as important, perhaps, to pick up their stretchers and help in tangible acts of kindness and charity.
Let us follow the example of those in today’s gospel and run toward our neighbor’s troubles, helping bear them toward Christ, the healer, in whatever ways we can.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you know that at times we can feel paralyzed by our own evil thoughts or from the fear, anxiety, or shame that comes from our own sinfulness. Help us, Jesus, to rise and walk away from the sins that paralyze us. Give us the strength and courage to walk away from any evil thought or habit that we harbor this day. Help us know that you have given authority to forgive sins because you desire our healing even more than we desire it ourselves. May we always reverence you with awe and admiration for all you have done for us. Amen.
Saint of the Day

On October 14, 2018, Pope Francis canonized seven new saints of the Church. In his stirring homily at the canonization Mass, Pope Francis invited the congregation: "Let us ask ourselves where we are in our story of love with God. Do we content ourselves with a few commandments or do we follow Jesus as lovers, really prepared to leave behind something for him?" Each of the saints that were canonized on that day reveals, in their own unique way, his and her total dedication to the radical call of the Gospel to leave everything behind.
St. Nazaria Ignacia, faced many obstacles in trying to follow God's will for her life. Nazaria Ignacia was born on January 10, 1889, to a fairly wealthy family with many children in Madrid. When she was not even ten years old, as she received her First Communion, Nazaria heard Christ's voice call out to her: "You, Nazaria—follow me." From that moment on, Nazaria had an intense desire to join the religious life, which, one would imagine, would have delighted her parents. Her parents were neither thrilled nor delighted by her religious fervor, but rather, they were both frustrated and annoyed with Nazaria's piety. Her parents grounded the young Nazaria from going to Mass and prevented her from receiving sacraments.
As a young girl, Nazaria was sent to study in Seville, and her grandmother ensured that Nazaria was raised in the Catholic faith, was confirmed, and even encouraged her to become a third order Franciscan. When Nazaria's father emigrated to Mexico, Nazaria and several of her younger sisters moved in with her grandmother before joining him later in the New World. Her father allowed Nazaria to join a religious order once she arrived and Nazaria promptly entered the order of the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly in July of 1908. She was sent to Bolivia, and, despite a brief return to Spain for her novitiate, Nazaria lived in Bolivia as a Little Sister until 1925, when she began a new religious order with Filippo Cortesi.
Nazaria gathered together ten other women to found the Missionaries of the Crusade in Bolivia in December 1926. They received diocesan approval a few months later, and, when Nazaria traveled to Rome to meet Pope Pius XI in 1934, she received his blessing and praise for her work of founding the order. The Missionaries finally received papal approval from Pope Pius XII in 1947, after Nazaria's death.
Nazaria died in Buenos Aires, Argentina on May 14, 1943. Her order still operates throughout the Spanish-speaking world today, a living testament to Nazaria's great love for Christ and her desire to serve him wholeheartedly, with her whole life.
St. Nazaria Ignacia, you followed the voice of God wholeheartedly, despite many obstacles—pray for us!