Dramatic, amazing, extraordinary, and yeah, ok.

Our readings today contain a very important line. The line is on our sign outside the church.

Let’s reflect on what Isaiah proclaims:

It is I, I, who wipe out,
for my own sake, your offenses;
your sins I remember no more.

The line on the sign is, —your sins I remember no more.—

How many of us can say something like that.

I have a difficult enough time forgiving myself for letting God down. I have a really hard time letting go of the stupid and dangerous things I’ve done in my life. So how truly amazing that God can say, —your sins I remember no more.— God Who is perfect has chosen to forgive my sins.

But there is more to the story than that.

We know that only God in His infinite mercy can abrogate our sin. He alone can wipe the slate clean. He can change us in an instant, from the corrupt beings we are, into something truly beautiful.

As we enter into this second week of the season of Septuagesima lets us reflect on God’s forgiveness.

My brothers and sisters,

We might ask ourselves why. Why does God choose to forgive us? Why did Jesus publicly demonstrate forgiveness?

The Jewish people were incredulous. Only God could forgive sins. Forgiveness only came on the High Holy Days when the High Priest sprinkled the blood of the lamb on the people and washed the altar with blood.

When Jesus came all but a few failed to recognize God in their midst. All but a few failed to see the High Priest and the sacrificial lamb in their midst.

And here come the faithful. The ones who see clearly:

Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd,
they opened up the roof above him.
After they had broken through,
they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.

Absolutely dramatic.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,
—Child, your sins are forgiven.—

Absolutely extraordinary.

Then the naysayers took over.

Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves,
—Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming.
Who but God alone can forgive sins?—

They missed God in their midst, didn’t they?

Jesus immediately knew in his mind
what they were thinking to themselves,
so he said, —Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic,
‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk?’

Now for the anticlimactic ending:

But that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth—
—”he said to the paralytic,
—I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.—
He rose, picked up his mat at once,
and went away in the sight of everyone.

The people were amazed. They were beside themselves. We think of this moment as dramatic, but it is not. It is wonderful for that man, but very sad for those naysayers.

They could only believe what they saw. They saw a cure, destruction becoming wholeness. They missed the main event. They missed the real cure.

—Child, your sins are forgiven.—

So here we are on Sexagesima Sunday. About sixty days before Easter. We are called to pay very close attention to the cure for our broken hearts.

Jesus gave the Church a powerful gift; the gift of forgiveness of sins. Interestingly, He repeated this gift several times.

Before His death He told His Apostles:

“Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 18:18).

After His resurrection he told the Apostles:

“‘As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained'” (John 20:21—“23)

Whenever Christ cured the sick He addressed their faithfulness first, and if needed, the requirement of repentance. By doing so He gave His Church not just a powerful commission but a powerful example.

We are called in faith to come here each week. We are called to trust that if we ask, God will forgive us. That God will forgive us through the power of His Holy Church.

When Father holds out his hand and pronounces absolution for our sins we are indeed washed clean.

It is not just Father Andrew holding out his hand. It is Jesus Christ. Jesus is absolving your sins and father is acting as Jesus commissioned him to act. He is also acting on behalf of the whole Church. Jesus forgives your sins and the Christian community forgives you.

God the Father forgives us because He sees us washed in the blood of His Son. God forgives us so that His love and mercy may be magnified.

Do not be like the naysayers. Rather, ask and be forgiven. Repent and be washed clean. Do not miss the main event. Each week we should be like the people in that house in Capernaum:

They were all astounded
and glorified God, saying, —We have never seen anything like this.—