Recently, I came across the story of Jesus healing the paralytic in Luke.  The story goes that men lifted a man down on a stretcher through a roof in order to get the paralyzed man to Jesus to be healed.  Jesus says to the paralyzed man, “Rise and Walk.  Your faith has saved you.”

While I am not physically paralyzed, I know there are times in my life where I am paralyzed.  Possibly my paralysis comes from fear or from anger.  Possibly it is something that becomes so all consuming that I cannot think of anything else.  It literally paralyzes me and keeps me from moving or acting.  I possibly lack the courage to make a move. I know we have all had these kind of moments in our lives. 

God is saying to all of us though… “Rise and Walk!”  God is asking us to trust him enough to surrender to him so that he can heal us and remove our paralysis so we can literally stand up and walk again.  We can move, we can act, we can remove ourselves from situations that cause the paralysis in the first place; however, we cannot do it alone.  We must have faith in God.  We need God’s healing hand so we can “Pick up our mats and go home!”

Is there something in our lives that is causing us to be paralyzed?
Is there an area where we year to “rise and walk”?
How can we deepen our “yes” to God so that we make room for God’s healing power in our lives?

Becky Eldredge

Becky is an Ignatian-trained spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and writer. She is the author of the Busy Lives and Restless Souls (March 2017, Loyola Press) and The Inner Chapel (April 2020, Loyola Press). She helps others create space to connect faith and everyday life through facilitating retreats and days of reflection, through writing, and through spiritual direction. With nearly twenty years of ministry experience within the Catholic Church, Becky seeks to help others discover God at work in the every day moments of people’s lives by utilizing St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises and the many gifts that our Catholic faith and Ignatian Spirituality provide.