17 November 2026 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“And just then some people were carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”” Matthew 9:2
Paul compares God's people to an olive tree. Some natural branches were broken off; the Gentiles, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in to share “the rich root”. So he warns: “do not boast over the branches… it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you.” We stand by faith and by grace alone, and God can graft back in those who were cut off. Humility, not pride, is the right response to being included.
Friends carry a paralysed man to Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus first says what no one expected: “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” The scribes call it blasphemy. So Jesus heals the man's body too, “so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” The crowds glorify God “who had given such authority to human beings”: the authority that Christ still exercises through his Church in Confession.
Theme: “Your sins are forgiven.”
Faith that carries, grace that grafts.
“Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” Ruth 1:16
“And just then some people were carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”” Matthew 9:2
Apply: Pray by name for someone who cannot pray.
“who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,” Psalm 103:3
“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” Matthew 9:6
Apply: Plan a confession before 1 December.
“But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.” Psalm 52:8
“do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember that it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you.” Romans 11:18
Apply: Thank God for the faith you received from your forebears.
Christ forgives and heals.
We live from his root, not from our merit.
Take-home resolution: Make a good confession this month.
Dear friends, Paul compares God's people to an olive tree. Some natural branches were broken off; the Gentiles, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in to share the rich root. So he warns: do not boast over the branches; it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you (Romans 11:17–18).
In the Gospel some people bring to Jesus a paralysed man lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus says: take heart, son; your sins are forgiven. And so that they may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he heals him (Matthew 9:2–6). The faith of others carried him.
We too have been carried by the faith of others: our parents, our ancestors, the tradition of the St Thomas Christians. Today let us carry someone: a sick person, someone weary in faith, bringing them to Jesus in prayer. Amen.
Children, friends carried a sick man to Jesus. Today pray for someone who is sick!
Lord Jesus, you saw the faith of friends and forgave the paralysed man. Forgive our sins, heal our weakness, and keep us humble branches on your living tree. Amen.
Both readings speak of belonging by grace. Paul warns Gentile believers, grafted into Israel's olive tree, not to boast: they stand only by faith. In the Gospel, a paralysed man carried by his friends receives first the forgiveness of his sins and then the use of his legs. In both, what we have is received, not earned.
Setting.
Romans 9–11 is Paul's anguished reflection on his own people, most of whom had not accepted Jesus as Messiah. He insists that God has not rejected his people (11:1), and that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (11:29). The olive tree is an old image for Israel (Jeremiah 11:16).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember that it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you.” (11:18)
“They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe.” (11:20)
The warning is for Christians. Pride over others is the surest way to lose what we have received.
“how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.” (11:24)
Paul's hope for Israel is not weaker than his warning; it is stronger.
How the Church reads it.
The Second Vatican Council takes up this image: the Church draws sustenance from the root of that good olive tree onto which the wild shoots, the Gentiles, have been grafted (Nostra Aetate 4). The Catechism teaches the Church's unique bond with the Jewish people, to whom God's call is irrevocable (CCC 839).
Setting.
“His own town” is Capernaum, where Jesus made his home (4:13). Mark tells the same story with the roof opened above Jesus (Mark 2:1–12); Matthew tells it more briefly, so that the question of authority stands out.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”” (9:2)
“Their faith”: the friends' faith counts. This does not mean the illness was caused by a personal sin (see John 9:3); Jesus goes first to the deepest need.
“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (9:6)
Forgiveness cannot be seen; healing can. The visible sign confirms the invisible gift.
“When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.” (9:8)
“To human beings”, in the plural. Matthew's readers would think of the authority given to the Church to bind and loose (16:19; 18:18).
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism teaches that only God forgives sins, that Jesus, as Son of God, says of himself that he has this authority on earth, and that he gave this power to men to exercise in his name (CCC 1441–1442). This is what happens in the sacrament of Confession.
Was the man paralysed because he had sinned?
The Gospel does not say so. Jesus elsewhere rejects that simple link (John 9:3). He forgives first because sin is the deeper paralysis of every human being.