The Holy Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus (293-305).
1 Corinthians 15:58-16:3; Luke 5:17-26.
Read Luke 5:17-26
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Most of us believe that we can be saved by our faith. Therefore, to believe that we can be saved by someone else’s faith at first seems to be an odd idea. Yet, todays Gospel says that Jesus forgave sins of a paralyzed man because of the faith of his friends. We do not live in isolation. Our lives and actions influence other people in the same way as we are influenced by the role models presented to us by the people who surround us.
There are quite a few of us who can admit that we owe all who we are and ever will be to the faith of our good parents or grandparents. St. Augustine certainly did. Even before his conversion, St. Ambrose of Milan encouraged Augustine’s mother, Monica, by saying that “it is impossible that the child of such prayers and tears should perish.” Some of us are capable of doing shameful thing but we come to a stop precisely due to the fact that we do not want to betray the faith of our loved ones.
Having said that, I still believe that we cannot be saved by the faith of others. They cannot live our lives instead of us. It is not their faith FOR US, but their faith IN US that is capable of making real difference in our lives. Everyone desires to be loved and trusted. So, we are saved because even before we started to believe in God, He believed in us first.
Bible References