Monday of the Second Week of Advent
And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; they were trying to bring him in and set him in his presence.
But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus.
Lk 5:19-20
“We must overlook nothing, leaving nothing undared to advance, to extend the reign of Christ”
Eugene de Mazenod, Preface to the Rule, 1826
NOTE:
Thursday, December 8, is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
I invite you to look at the reflections written for this occasion in previous years:
https://www.eugenedemazenod.net/?p=4986
We do not know if the men who brought the paralyzed man to Jesus went away after Jesus healed him; or having been healed along with the man did they find away to somehow themselves become disciples of Jesus and learn his way of being?
Eugene spent his life daring so that others might experience the love of God: who gave himself as an oblation to the crucified Saviour. In daring to love the most abandoned and voiceless he invited others to help him in ways that were not the norm of his time. He gave up his own being so as to be able to share with everyone: daring to allow himself to be “sent to evangelize the poor; the poor being evangelized. (a sense of himself being right there with them, rather than some ‘above or over’ them).
Yesterday I talked with a person who has decided that they ‘want’ to be an Oblate Associate. They are in a rush and they know just almost everything about being an Oblate. They want me tell them what to do and they will do on their own. And if I can’t then I am to point them to who can. Perhaps they want to just be put in front in front of Jesus. Do I have the courage to dare and try to find a way to help this person walk with us?
In this moment I think of Mary’s courage and daring as she replied to the angel “let it be done unto me according to your word”. Then later as she stood at the foot of the cross while her son and our God hung there and died.
Do I follow Eugene and leave nothing undared, as I dare to stand with Mary at the foot of the cross and not give up on the person who approached me and who is perhaps themselves looking for courage…