The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Paralyzed at Home

Episode Date: December 14, 2018

Do you want to receive the show notes in your inbox? Email [e-mail]! Check out www.ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow to view all episodes and show notes. Have you ever been sitting at home bored and restless, feeling like you are going nowhere? Do you pull out your phone, turn on the television, or reach for a drink to numb this restlessness? Your home is supposed to be a place of reflection, intimacy, and growth. But in these moments, it is all too easy to become paralyzed and cease to walk in your vocation. We all have been given 24 hours in a day and as a disciple, you are a steward of that time. Today, Jeff reflects on two Bible passages: Jesus healing a paralyzed man (Luke 5:24) and the faith of the Centurion (Matthew 8:5-13). Through these two passages, Jeff provides 3 things you can do to break free, rise up, and walk. *Snippet from the Show: * We all experience these kinds of paralysis in our life, but it points to something deeper and that is that we cannot get to heaven on our own. We need Jesus, we are paralyzed in terms of our eternal destiny and we desperately need him to help us. SHOWNOTES Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the one who was paralyzed—“I say to you, stand up and take your bed and go to your home.”(Luke 5:24) The Faith of the Centurion When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.” And he said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one[d] in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.” And the servant was healed in that hour. (Matthew 8:5-13) 3 Things You Can Do To Rise Up and Walk 1. Identify your vocation, father, mother, husband or wife, single, priest, deacon. What area of your vocation are you continually sitting in the lazy boy instead of walking in your call? 2. Pick a good book and start reading it when you would otherwise be watching squirrels roller skate on Youtube. 3. Are their any habits that you are caught in that are costing you big time? TV, eating. Exchange this for bible reading or adoration. Resources The Book “Unbound” by Neal Lozano The Great Adventure Bible

You're listening to The Jeff Kaven Show, episode 94, Paralyzed at Home. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavins. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven Show. Hey, welcome to the show. I hope you're having a wonderful Advent season.

If you're listening to this out of the Advent season, well, all of life is a preparation for the coming of the Lord and walking with the Lord as disciples, so it's all pertinent information. But that's what we're going to talk about today. We're going to continue on with our theme of preparing for the Lord, but it's a little bit different than you might have expected. We're going to be talking about being paralyzed, paralyzed at home. And I know this is something that I have struggled with from time to time in my life, and I would guess that you have as well, whether you are married, single, you're a priest, religious, whatever your vocation in life, there are times where we find ourselves absolutely paralyzed. Well, I'm coming to you deep in the woods of Minnesota overlooking the frozen lake and all is white, and it is cold right now. And so naturally, we're going to be inside, but you don't have to be paralyzed inside. I want to share with you a couple of scriptures this week to talk about this topic of being paralyzed at home. You'll know what I'm talking about. And then I'm going to wind up the show with three things that you can do to rise up and walk, especially in your home. And you know, this is really a timely thing, particularly if you are in the north. We call it cabin fever, you know, where people, they stay in their home.

whole winter, and they can't wait to get out in the spring. But when you stay home all the time, you can get into ruts and you can develop habits and things that really are not productive and not fruitful in your life. And I think we've all experienced this to some degree or another. Hey, before I get into today's topic, I want to thank you for all of your email and continue to ask you to send your prayer intentions as we are prayer. praying for you, and you can send those prayer intentions at, or to the Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. And I do appreciate you going online on iTunes and on Google and ranking the show and making some comments about it. It really, really helps in the algorithm.

I received an email earlier this week from someone who was really struggling with a topic in their life, and they went searching, and they're not Catholic. And they came up with came up with my show and ended up writing me a personal email about how it was helping them and how they are actually looking at the Catholic Church now. So you have a part to play in this new evangelization, particularly on the internet using social media and shows like this that literally can go around the world in a split second. It really is a marvelous gift that we have received in the church, and we hope to use it responsibly and to work as a team on getting the message out.

Again, my email is The Jeffcaven Show at ascensionpress.com. Well, I'd like to start with a scripture this week in Luke chapter 5 and verse 24, and I'm going to put it in the show notes for you. And if you would like show notes for every single episode that we develop, all you have to do is send us an email and put in the subject line that you want the show notes, and we'll put you on the list. And you won't have to worry about it after that. But Luke chapter 5 in verse 24 says, and this is the story of a man who was paralyzed, it's Jesus healing a paralytic, and I am reading from my new and brand new pages of my great adventure Bible. I'm reading from Luke chapter 5 and verse 24, and it says, but that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he said to the man who is paralyzed, I say to you, rise,

take up your bed and go home. Now, I think that's interesting because he's not at home. He's out there in the public and he's paralyzed. And Jesus says, I say to you, rise, take up your bed and go home. Now, you know, the early church fathers, they treated these miracles in a special way. And they talked about how these miracles are sort of sacramental speaking of even a deeper healing that the Lord wants to do in our lives. and being paralyzed simply means that we are not capable of carrying out what we were created for. You know, if I was created to be an Olympic runner and I'm paralyzed from the waist down, then there's something that's keeping me from becoming what God really put me on earth to do, which would be to win the gold medal in the mile or something like that.

And we all experience these kinds of paralysis in our life, but it points to something deeper, and that is that we can't get to heaven on our own. We need Jesus. We are paralyzed in terms of our eternal destiny, and we desperately need him to help us. And so he heals us even today in our soul and makes it possible for us to walk as sons and daughters, share in his grace, and the life of the Trinity. But this man was paralyzed outside the home, and Jesus said, take up your bed and go home. But my question for you this week is, well, what do you do if you're paralyzed at home? What have you're paralyzed at home? And I was reading scripture recently, which disciples are off to do, often to do.

And I came across Matthew chapter 8, and it talks about Jesus heals a centurion servant. And there was one phrase in the reading of this story that really caught my attention. And in fact, my wife and I were talking about it in morning prayer. sharing our ideas on this. Let me read it to you real quickly, and I'll tell you the part that really hit me. It was Matthew chapter 8, starting in verse 5. As Jesus entered Copernum, a centurion came forward to him begging him and saying, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home in terrible distress. And he said to him, I will come and heal him. But the centurion answered him, Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word.

and my servant will be healed. For I am a man under authority with soldiers under me, and I say to one, go and he goes, and to another come, and he comes, and to my slave, do this, and he does it. And when Jesus heard him, he marveled. He was amazed, and said to those who followed him, truly I say to you, not even in Israel, have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where men will weep and gnash their teeth. And to the centurion, Jesus said, go, let it be done for you as you have believed. And the servant was healed at that very moment. Now, the part of the text that I just read to you, which is, again, I'll put it in the show notes, Matthew 8, 5 through 12, actually, through 13, actually. I went 5 through 13 a little bit longer there. But the part that really jumped out at me in my time of prayer recently was this line. The guy says, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home. And that phrase really popped out at me.

My servant lies paralyzed at home. Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever been at home and you just are sort of bored? It's like you don't know what to do. You don't know what to fill your time with. You just get fidgety. It's like you're restless and you just feel like you're going nowhere. Well, I know a lot of people to feel like that. And from time to time, I have probably felt like that myself.

But you know, there's a lot of areas in our life that we can be paralyzed in at home. And I got to thinking about this, you know, that home is supposed to be a place where if you're married and you have a family, it's a place that is a school of love. It is a place of safety. It is a place of warmth and growing and nurturing, reflection, intimacy. A home should be a wonderful place of growth. But for so many of us, home becomes a place of paralysis. We don't know what to do, you know, and you're in a rut. And even in raising children, you get into a rut and you're not tending to the things that you

should tend to. It's like you're paralyzed, sitting in the lazy boy. And the children are living their life and they're growing up, but you're not involved in the way that you should be. In your marriage as well. You know, how many people are very active and dynamic, and they speak to people at work, and they laugh and tell stories and everything, and they go home, and nothing happens. There's no fellowship in the marriage.

There's no sharing with one another about the good things of the Lord. Or maybe money, money oftentimes paralyzes people. They feel like they're really in a trap as far as money goes, and they don't know what to do about it. And so they end up just acting like a paralyzed person. Sometimes people get into bad habits of alcohol, like in the evening. They say, well, that's just what I do. I have two or three Manhattans or whatever it is. And they find themselves basically paralyzed as far as their relationship with a family and their relationship with the Lord and spiritual growth. Or maybe it's prescription drugs or prescription drugs you shouldn't be taking. Or maybe you're

taking prescription drugs that somebody else should be taking. Well, that can be a real bad habit that leaves you paralyzed in your life. And you know, one of the things that I've noticed in talking to people about this lying paralyzed in the home is that sometimes, you know, when we don't know what to do and we're not walking in our vocation, we have a tendency to turn off and turn on television, for example, how many people who are disciples of the Lord who have been called to a mission to serve the poor, clothe the naked, teach their children, protect and provide for, and lead their family, they just sit in front of the TV and watch everything they've been DVRing night after night after night, all the comedy, all of the action, all the sports. And when they get home

from work, you know, they get their drink or whatever. And then they sit and watch TV. TV till 10, 11 at night, and then they go to bed, and it's night after night after night. That's paralysis. Do you know anybody like that? That's paralysis. And the problem with this is that we've all been given 24 hours a day, and you are a steward of that time as a disciple. And so one of the things I'm asking you today as your friend is, how are you handling time at home as a steward?

of time. As one who's been given this time as a gift from the master, how are you handling it? Or is it just once you get home, you know what's going to happen. You're going to turn off and turn on, and that's going to be your evening. I think so often, you know, one man said a long time ago, he talked about how TV was the opioid of the masses, you know, and in any way it is. It just kind of numbs us and entertains us, but we don't really accomplish anything in terms of our spiritual walk. But here's what's funny. At the same time, we'll tell someone who asks us, how's your spiritual life doing? Are you reading the Bible? I don't have time. I just don't really have time. But if they were to watch you every evening, they'd probably be able to identify some time pretty quickly, you know? So one of the things I

found is that we escape in TV, or you can escape in alcohol, drugs, you know, all these types of things or, but not walking in your vocation oftentimes places you in a place of paralysis. If you're called to be a father and a husband and you go home and you don't tend to either aspect of that vocation, then you probably are paralyzed. You can be paralyzed in a hobby. You get home and all you do is your hobby. It's just your hobby. And while the house of God, it lies in, you know, lies in neglect, we are tend to.

to our own house, which is the house of our hobby, you know. And don't get me wrong, hobbies aren't bad. I mean, I have a couple little hobbies. I enjoy it. But if that's all you're going to do with your time, you're paralyzed spiritually. You know, you're paralyzed in terms of mission. You're paralyzed in terms of becoming everything that God wanted you to become, and you are paralyzed in terms of growing in virtue. You can't grow in virtue consistently if your whole life is dedicated to stamp collecting or whatever it is. I'm not against stamp collecting. I did that a long time ago, but I lick that habit. And you don't want to get caught up in hobbies and these side bunny trails and neglect yourself the relationship with the Lord. So oftentimes our home becomes a place of

paralysis in our own lives when we're not walking in our vocation, when we're not spending that time with our children and with our spouse. And I also have come to know that home is a paralyzing place when you aren't a doer of the word of God and an activated disciple. If you're not an activated disciple at home and not focused on learning and doing his word, which by the way, much of it happens in the home, then you are paralyzed. You're paralyzed. But one of the things that I so love about this text that I've been reading here in Matthew chapter 8 is the answer that comes for this man who is paralyzed at home. And I'm going to take a break right now. When I come back, I want to get to that. The answer to this lying paralyzed at home, and I want to give you three

things that you can do to rise up and walk and break that paralysis at home. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven Show. If you're looking for a way to learn more about your Catholic faith, I invite you to check out the Ascension Presents YouTube channel. You're going to find tons of free videos featuring Catholic presenters like Matt Frad, Leodero, Jackie Bobby Angel, and Emily Wilson. Go to YouTube.com slash ascension presents. That's YouTube.com slash ascension presents. And if you like what you see, please share and subscribe. Welcome back. So glad that you are taking the time to listen to shows like this. This will help you to not be paralyzed. You're probably listening in the car on the way to work or on the way home. And what I'm talking about today is

lying paralyzed at home, like this centurion servant. He was lying paralyzed at home. And And Jesus ended up healing him. And Jesus said to the centurion, well, I'll come and I'll heal him. Okay, I'll go back with you. And I'll heal him. And the centurion said those words that we recite in Mass, Lord, I'm not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word and my servant will be healed. And therein lies the solution to being paralyzed at home, whether you're a father, mother, whether you are a husband, wife, a single, generous single person, priest, religious, wherever you are staying, there's an answer to that paralysis. There's an

answer. And you know, so many priests that I have talked to as well struggle with paralysis at home. They're on all day serving people, mass and confessions and so forth, and they can go home and slip into paralysis in the lazy boy or the bottle or collecting or whatever it might be. the Internet. They become paralyzed. And here is the answer in this great narrative here. Just say the word and my servant will be healed. And Jesus, the rest of the story, Jesus is going on about how amazed he is, which oftentimes, well, I think almost all the times, his amazement is over the Gentiles and their response to the gospel. And he's always amazed at, wow, they got great faith. They got great faith. And here is the answer. It is the word of the Lord, the Lord speaking. If you're going to be set free

from paralysis in your home, then you need to adhere to God's word and allow God's word to come into your life and to speak to you because that's the door of freedom for you. I got bad news for you. It might be good news. It ain't Dr. Phil. It isn't Ellen. It's not Oprah. It's not Rush Limbaugh. None of these. How do they have good things to say? Perhaps. But none of them can cause someone to rise up and walk, someone who is paralyzed spiritually, the way you might be this week. And so it is in the words of Jesus that we find this freedom. And if we would begin to pray and we begin to take in his word, and act on it, you will experience what this man experienced, the centurion's servant, as well as in Luke chapter 5, the servant who was healed and told to go home, right? And don't go home to get paralyzed again. You don't want to do that. So that is the answer. You know, if we're going to walk in that freedom, we cannot keep returning to the things that keep us paralyzed.

whether it's TV, whether it's drugs or alcohol or just hobbies or laziness or pity or, you know, jealousy, envy, whatever it might be. Don't settle for a life like that evening after evening, morning after morning, break free and start new habits. Recently I was teaching in my activated disciple class in the Twin Cities at the Cate Catechetical Institute, I was teaching a course and mentioned that we have to begin to begin to create new margin in our life. Time to give to the Lord. It will be rewarded, my friend. You will be set free. You will be set free. By the way, if you are really bound up, I'd like you to look up a book called Unbound. Tremendous book. I'm not going to go into it now. I might talk about it later. Might even introduce the author, but Google it Unbound. Tremendous. The author is going to be there, and that's going to be the topic at a conference that I'm going to be at in Toledo, Ohio.

it's the Encounter Conference in Toledo, Ohio, and that is going to be coming up. Let's see, I think it's January 4th and 5th. I'm going to be there, and that's going to be a great conference due to the topic. And it's already almost sold out, I believe. So I was recently on Teresa Tomio show talking about that. Well, back to this, I just came to mind, so that's free. You get it. You know, the book, Unbound.

But there's three things you can do to rise up and walk if you feel that you are one of those that's paralyzed in your home, okay? Three things that you can do. And I want to share these with you as we get ready to conclude. Number one, identify your vocation. You have a vocation. Number one, we all have a vocation to evangelization. We all have a vocation to become disciples of Christ. We all do. You know, we can't escape that. You are called to be. productive and filled with a spirit. You're called to be a man or a woman on a mission to share Christ with other people, to give glory to God, honor them in your body, in the choices that you make. So everybody has a vocation. But more specifically, identify your vocation. Are you a father?

Are you a mother? Are you a husband or wife? Are you single? Are you a priest? Are you a deacon? What is your vocation? And this question, question goes along with this. Number one, what area of your vocation are you continually sitting in the lazy boy instead of walking in your call? What area? Is it being a father? Are you choosing the lazy boy over being a father? Are you paralyzed? Or being a mother or wife or husband or a generous single person, just because you don't have kids or a spouse doesn't mean you can't be paralyzed at home. And so identify what area, what area are you continually sitting in a lazy boy instead of walking in your call? And write that down. I always recommend that people

keep some kind of journal of their spiritual walk and Lexio de Vina on a daily basis. I use a little moleskin notebook. You can get them anywhere. But write it down for today. What is your vocation? And is there an aspect of being a mother or a wife, father, you know, what was a priest, whatever it might be, that you're ignoring that, that aspect of it. That is something we can now focus on, right? That's something we can now focus on. And number two is pick a good book. and maybe in that area that you think you're neglecting, pick a good book and start reading it when you would otherwise be watching squirrels on roller skates on YouTube. Start reading a good book. Now, I hope you're reading the Bible. I really do, because that's the foundation of our reading.

I mean, for every one of us, that's just life. But in order to stop being paralyzed in the area of your vocation, start reading a book on that topic and do what you're reading. If it's a good book, do what you're reading. Put it into practice. Break the chains of paralysis in that area of your life. So number two is pick a good book, start reading it, and stop watching squirrels on roller skates. Number three, are there any habits that you are caught in that are costing you big time. Are there any habits that you are in that are related to this paralysis in the home like TV, eating, anything else you can think of? I mean, you know your life better than I do. But is it TV? Is it eating? Is it spending endless hours on the internet? Well, what we need

to do is break the chains. Break the chains. Break the chain. chains. Break the chains in your life when it comes to this. If it's TV and you're just doing six hours a night and go into bed, break the chain. Make up your mind that you're going to bring that down from six hours to maybe you're going to watch your favorite show. Fine. But do something else. Go to adoration. Read the Bible. Read a book. Call a friend. Pray for your family. their names in your prayer journal and start praying for them. Focus on a saint that you're going to learn more about. Read an encyclical. I mean, listen to some praise music. There's all kinds of things you can do to break the chain. Is it eating? Maybe fast. Maybe fast. And exchange the TV and

the eating and the other things that are keeping you bound. Exchange them for time. doing the things that are going to develop virtue and character in your life. Now, don't let this overwhelm you. Start small if you have to and say, well, I'm going to give up an hour a night of TV. Sounds kind of funny, doesn't, you know, give an hour a night to God, but five hours to ABC and CBS. I'm going to take one hour a night, and I'm going to give it to the Lord. And this is on top of, I hope, prayer in the morning with Lexio Divina. My point is, If you want to break the paralysis in your life, you're going to have to respond to the word of God. You're going to have to respond to the words of Jesus.

As it says here in Matthew chapter 8, it was his word that set the centurion servant free. And it's no different with you. It's his word. It's his word that will set you free. And so the bottom line is that we must have some time during the day to hear his word in order for us to be set free. You know, one of the things you can do, it just came to mind. And I used to do this. I like to read the word in the morning and spend time in God's word. But you can also get the scripture on MP3 files or, you know, on your phone. You can get the word of God. You can play it in the car while you're driving. That's a good use of time. Just so many ways that you, I mean, we're big boys and girls. We can find ways of doing other things rather, you know, than be sitting there paralyzed in the lazy boy at home. Well, anyway, that's what I wanted to share with you this week is part of preparing for the

coming of the Lord is I got to break some habits here. I got to get up out of the chair and I got to start preparing for the Lord. And the way that I'm going to prepare for the Lord is not some, you know, FBI investigative series on TV night after night. That isn't the way to prepare for the Lord. The way to prepare for the Lord is to get our mind on his purposes, in his will, in his mission. I have a funny sense that this show this week was for you. I really do.

If you have questions, comments, topics you'd like me to talk about, please let me know at the Jeff Kaven show at ascensionpress.com. I'm going to pray for you right now. In this preparatory time for Christmas, I'm going to pray for you that you will rise and walk in your home. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, I lift up my friend right now. And I pray, Lord, that you will touch my friend in a powerful way and that your word would break the chains in their life and that they would no longer be paralyzed at home, but they would be free. Lord, help us to hear your words at Mass in Bible reading, in praise music, in reading books about you and the faith. Lord, speak, your servants listening. Help us to become free. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Name of the Father and the Son

in the Holy Spirit. Amen. friend, you be free this week and get off the lazy boy. God bless.