Monday, December 7, 2026 — Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
The paralyzed man lowered through the roof
Luke 5:17-26
The Gospel
While Jesus is teaching, some men carry a paralyzed man on a stretcher and, finding no way through the crowd, lower him through the roof and lay him before Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus first forgives the man his sins, and then, to show that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, tells him to rise, pick up his stretcher, and go home. The man stands up at once and goes home glorifying God, and all who see it are filled with awe.
Readings of the day: First Reading: Isaiah 35:1-10; Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 85:9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14; Alleluia; Gospel: Luke 5:17-26.
Reflection
The friends do not wait for an opening. They climb to the roof, open it, and lower the paralyzed man to the feet of Jesus. And Jesus answers a prayer they never spoke aloud: before He heals the body, He forgives the sins. St. Bede teaches that the Lord first loosens the chains of sin, because unless those are set free, the limbs cannot be healed. St. Ambrose adds the wonder of it: the Lord pardons one man for the good deed of another. The faith of the friends carries the man who cannot walk. That is how intercession works, and it is how Advent works too. We bring one another to Christ, and He does first the hidden work, the forgiveness, and then the visible work, the rising and the walking home. The crowd saw incredible things that day. We are given the same today: bring someone to Jesus in prayer, and trust Him to do the rest.
From the Fathers
“The Lord about to cure the man of his palsy, first loosens the chains of his sins, that He may shew him, that on account of the bonds of his sins, he is punished with the loosening of his joints, and that unless the former are set free, he cannot be healed to the recovery of his limbs.”
— St. Bede the Venerable, in the Catena Aurea on Luke 5:17-26
“Mighty is the Lord who pardons one man for the good deed of another, and while he approves of the one, forgives the other his sins.”
— St. Ambrose, in the Catena Aurea on Luke 5:17-26
Saint of the day
Saint Ambrose (c. 340–397), Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church. Still a catechumen and governor of the province, he was acclaimed bishop by the people of Milan and consecrated on December 7, 374, the day of his feast. He baptized St. Augustine at the Easter Vigil of 387 and defended the faith against Arianism.
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Sources: the day’s readings follow the daily lectionary (USCCB, Lectionary 181). The Gospel text is not reproduced here; read it at the link above. Patristic quotes: Catena Aurea on Luke 5:17-26, compiled by St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by John Henry Newman (1841, public domain).