From Living Faith Daily Catholic Devotions (Jan/Feb/Mar 2026)

First Week in Ordinary Time

1 Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22a + Psalm 89:16-19 + Mark 2:1-12

Child, Your Sins Are Forgiven

…the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth. Mark 2:10B

How dangerous, and how much of a temptation, it is to believe that God either cannot or would not forgive our sins. And how many of our hearts are held captive by feelings, not of remorse but of disbelief, that a laving and merciful God would wipe away our offenses. Many of those standing around as Jesus healed the paralytic man – after he first forgave the man’s sins – may have expected the man to remain bound, but Jesus loosed his bonds of iniquity.

We must seek the same Lord, as did the paralytic, when atoning for our own sins. Christ is awaiting us in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. He wants us to be made whole, not merely in our body but especially within our soul. He alone can achieve such an otherwise unbelievable feat.

Jesus, we thank you for being there to forgive our sins. May we always turn away from evil and toward you.

□ Mr. Justin McClain, O.P.