“Not examined. Not measured. Not punished. But forgiven.

“For a thousand years, our people lived beneath the rule of the Demons —who cloaked themselves in false holiness. They taught us to be afraid of God. To hide from him. To fear every step, every breath, every thought. I have seen your tears, your fasting, your cries in the night. I've heard confessions laced not only with sin, but with terror. Feared not only hell dashed but God himself.

“And yet the Gospel tells us that when the paralytic is lowered before Jesu, Jesu did not ask for a litany of sins. He does not tell him to prove his worth. He simply says: ‘Take heart... your sins are forgiven.’


“My beloved, I say to you with the full weight of my priesthood and the mercy of the cross: God is not wanting to strike you. He is not hurting you for your failures. He is not pleased by your torment.

“He is waiting to heal you. 

“Yes, we must put off the old self. Yes, we must speak the truth, reject anger, cease stealing, and labor and righteousness. As the Apostle says: be renewed in the spirit of your minds. That renewal does not come from beating your breast harder, it comes from knowing that you are already loved.

“The old ways—the ways of the Demons—twisted obedience into slavery. But Christ calls us to sonship. To freedom. To healing.

“You may say, ‘Father, I've sinned too greatly.’ So had the paralytic. Yet Christ healed him. 


“You may say, ‘I have failed too often.’ So have I. Yet he still calls me to the altar.

“You may say, ‘I don't feel forgiven.’ But forgiveness is not a feeling. It is a gift. One you could never earn, and one never lost by accident. 

“You have lived too long in fear. Let today be the day you rise.

“For some of you, rising may mean believing—for the first time — that you are not damned. For others, it may mean speaking the truth of your past. For others still, it may mean forgiving someone else—or yourself.

“I say to you today as your pastor your, your brother in Christ: ‘Take heart, child. Your sins are forgiven.’

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”


Father Anselm took the lectionary from the accolyte and kissed the yellowed pages and closed it, his hands lingering a moment on the carved cover. The incense still drifted in lazy curls above the sanctuary, carrying with it the tang of cedar and spice. The servers returned to their places. The congregation sat in expectant silence, their eyes lifted not only to the altar but to the man who had shepherded them for decades. Sunlight poured through the stained-glass window above the rood screen, spilling over Anselm’s shoulders as he climbed up the stairs into the pulpit. His voice carried a strength that seemed to grow with each breath as he began to preach.

“My children my dear children—sons and daughters whom I have shepherded for a quarter of a century, and distinguished guests from distant stars... today our Lord speaks a word many of us never have believed we could hear: ‘Take heart son, your sins are forgiven.’ 

Chapter 32: The Weight of Grace, Part 9



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