Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae.
When our Lord asks the question, which is easier to do, to forgive sins or to say to this man, rise and walk,
he knows full well that the answer is, your sins are forgiven, is the harder thing to do.
But in order to try to show the Pharisees and the scribes that they were not thinking supernaturally,
and hence they did not possess a supernatural strength,
he tries, as it were, to ask them in the form of the question, knowing that they would conclude, rise and walk.
And so our Lord wished to show them this day that he truly has authority, not only over the body,
but more especially over the soul.
And so he tells the man to rise and walk, and immediately the man rises and walks.
And our Lord works this miracle in order that the Pharisees and scribes may come to understand
that he has come that all humanity may rise from his sin and then walk in the life of Christ.
But unfortunately, many of the Pharisees and scribes would perdure in their lack of faith,
for faith is a supernatural gift given to us by God.
On which we believe all things that he has taught us and proposes to our belief through Holy Mother Church.
And so it is a supernatural gift, and it is not the product of any human thinking.
And indeed, in our modern world, in our modern times, we see this very clearly.
Many propose to believe in faith, that is, they believe in Christ,
but they do not believe in him in a supernatural way.
It is a man-made faith, and so hence, ultimately,
it is a pagan faith because it is not rooted on that virtue of humility
by which the soul truly recognizes that Jesus Christ is not only man,
but he is truly God, as he shows this day by working this miracle.
And indeed, most of the Pharisees and scribes present knew full well
that if Christ could say to the man, rise and walk, and he truly would rise and walk,
then they were beginning to come to the conclusion
that he would rise and walk.
That there was something other than just a man.
And so he was trying to bring them slowly and surely to that most profound of all faith,
that he was the Messiah.
Saint Augustine tells us they absolutely knew, and they were inexcusable in that.
But that they did not know he was God, they could have been excused.
And so the Lord constantly, in his public ministry, is trying to bring them to that
deep and profound understanding, that profession of faith that Saint Peter would first declare,
that he is the Son of the living God, and that is precisely why they are accusing him of blasphemy,
for he puts himself on a level of God.
And indeed, we see this in our modern form, in the sense that we are told
that it is not Christ who offers us salvation, it is not Christ who gives us the hope of true life,
but it is somehow the product of human effort, that if we just get this particular thing right,
or that particular thing right, we will restore peace,
in the world.
And so, ultimately, modern man is saying that peace comes through human effort,
but our Lord teaches us quite contrary to that.
Peace comes through, if we want to use the expression, the divine effort,
by which the second person of the Blessed Trinity became man,
in order, as it were, to show us the way of salvation.
And so, let us truly rejoice that he has given us faith,
and indeed, let us always remember that as a supernatural,
gift, it is not commensurate with how much we may or may not know of Christ.
Certainly, we should strive always and everywhere,
but there are many souls who are extremely gifted by nature,
who know more about history than perhaps we do,
know more about human industry than perhaps we do,
but even this knowledge does not suffice for salvation.
It is only when we declare with charity, because charity is a supernatural gift,
that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,
that we show ourselves to truly have this free gift that we have received from the Lord.
And so, let us strive to return to him all that which we have received,
that is, every good we have by body or by soul,
every good that we have, we have received because God has given it to us.
And so, in faith, we must strive to return all things to him.
Mankind would keep those gifts to himself,
and try to forge a kingdom separate from the kingdom of God,
and let us strive to show them that charity is first and foremost
the love of God and then love of neighbor for God's sake,
so that we are always operating in a way by which we show our concern
for the salvation of all souls,
that all souls, when departing from the kingdoms of this earth,
will ultimately enter that kingdom for which they were created,
that is, the kingdom of God for all souls.
The kingdom of God for all eternity in heaven.
The kingdom of God for all time.