So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed

 And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately the leprosy left him.  And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded."  However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.  So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.  And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.  Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.  And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.  When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!"

- Luke 5:12-26

Yesterday we read that, as the multitude pressed about Jesus to hear the word of God, He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.  Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and ask him to put out a little from the land.  And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.  When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."  But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net."  And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.  So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.  And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.  When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"  For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.  And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid.  From now on you will catch men."  So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.

And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately the leprosy left him.  In order to understand the impact of this healing, we have to understand the nature of leprosy at this time and place.  It was one of the most dreaded diseases.  My study bible notes that leprosy brought great physical suffering to a person.  But in addition, it meant total banishment and isolation from society.  Furthermore, leprosy was a symbol for sin (and remains so in imagery of the disfiguring effects of sin on the soul).  So, to cleanse this man from his illness also means restoration to community.  To touch a leper was forbidden; but, as my study bible notes, to the clean, nothing is unclean (see Romans 14:14).

And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded."  My study bible cites the commentary of Cyril of Alexandria, who writes that Jesus gives this command to show yourself to the priest in order to convince the priests by a tangible miracle that He is superior to Moses.  The priests believe that Moses is greater than Christ, but Christ heals a leper immediately and with His own divine authority.  Moreover, when Miriam (the sister of Moses) was struck with leprosy, Moses had to seek mercy from above, and still she was only healed after seven days (Numbers 12:10-15).  St. Ambrose of Milan comments on this point that Jesus shows that this healing comes not through law, but by grace.

However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.  So he Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.  We note once again (as in yesterday's reading and commentary), Jesus' withdrawal into the wilderness for prayer.  This is His necessary time to "recharge and renew" and so should we learn and follow His example.

 Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.  And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.  Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.  And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.  When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!"  My study bible comments that this healing illustrates that faith is an indispensable condition for salvation.  It notes that faith is both collective and personal, as it is the faith of the friends of the paralytic that helped in his healing.  It also notes that there are three signs here of Jesus' divinity.  First, He knows the secrets of hearts (see 1 Samuel 16:7; 2 Chronicles 6:30).  Second, He forgives sins, which is a power that belongs to God alone.  Finally, Jesus heals by the power of His word.

There are notable and spectacular things that happen in today's reading.  In the first instance, there is the healing of leprosy, as astonishing event.  We note that this happens in contravention of the law; Jesus does the forbidden in order to heal, and touches the unclean.  The command to the healed leper to show himself to the priest gives us a sign that Christ is ready for the confrontation and interaction with the religious leadership.  It is a signal that the inevitable has begun.  This is further affirmed in the healing of the paralytic, when for the first time in Luke's Gospel, we're told that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.  And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.  In the healing of the paralytic, the house is so full of people that the paralytic's friends must lower him in through the roof, making quite a memorable event.  But what's notable is that Pharisees and teachers of the law have now come to Christ -- out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.  This expression of power and grace comes directly in front of those who've come to examine and to witness Christ's ministry.  They are the regulators and keepers of the faith.  A modern day analogy, though not quite apt, might be having government inspectors come and take a look at what you are doing, just to cast an eye on how you're running your business.  In this case, these men hold far more power; their authority is not only religious, but in this case over the regulation of all community affairs.   Therefore whatever happens in community -- and clearly we see a gathering of an entire community here in many ways -- is their business to regulate and censure if they so choose.  Community is in full display here, with the packed house full of people, but also in the action of the friends of the paralytic.  It might be worthy to note here that the word "liturgy" meaning worship service comes from the Greek, literally meaning "work of the people."  Everything concerns community.  In our very personally oriented world today, we might not necessarily think about it this way.  But as the healing of the paralytic very amply demonstrates, faith is really a "work of the people."  We're not alone when we pray.  We're not alone even in the sense that there are always others who pray for us, whether we know it or not.  There are monasteries around the world, where prayer for the world and all those in need is the primary purpose of the "work of the people" there.  The saints pray for us.  And the Mother of God, Mary, as prime intercessor, prays for all of us.  We should note that in the earliest centuries of Christianity, this was firmly established in veneration of her universally in the Church.  When the friends of the paralytic intervene to bring him to Christ, we should know that faith and prayer are not isolated arrangements, but rather work like a kind of interactive circuitry; any prayer may join in this network.  When we pray for others, our prayers are potently energetic to reach to them and form a kind of protective and healing embrace within this "network circuitry."   Although we can't see it physically, it exists spiritually.   We should further understand that leprosy and paralysis form potent symbolism of sin.  When we fail to forgive, for example, we remain stuck.  A firm passion for or slavish attachment to one habit or another can form a kind of idolatry that keeps us stuck, and works like a blockage to hinder the energy of God in our lives.  This creates a kind of paralysis, like an obsessive loop from which we fail to escape.  Leprosy symbolizes the disfiguring effect of sin on who we truly are, deteriorating the inner self and keeping us from becoming all that God can help us to be.  Both of these illustrations of sin also harm community, keeping us from fully participating, breaking the circuit of communion.  Jesus really offers us the way out of these predicaments if we look closely at the reading, and that is a permanent habit of retreat into prayer, private time with Our Father.  In this place of "wilderness" we are free to let go of everything that keeps us bound, make that root connection to grace and its Source through prayer, and connect with an energy whose circuitry and power we can't estimate and whose reach we'll never fully know.  This is the prescription for all things, and Christ offers it repeatedly by His example.  Let us return always to this place of resource and renewal and resolution for all that ails -- even the conflicts we might know are coming.