DECEMBER 13, 2023

WEDNESDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT

AN IMPERFECT YES

OPENING PRAYER:

COME, HOLY SPIRIT. I welcome you into my heart as Mary did. Come with power. Help me to offer my own yes to God the Father, saying with trust: “May it be done unto me according to your word.”

TODAY’S THOUGHT:

Mary's yes to the Lord is perfect. Conceived without sin, Mary is able to give a perfectly free and total yes to God.

What about us? Will our yes be perfect like Mary's? Will we be able to give a perfectly free and total yes as she does? If we can't, then what? Do we only offer a yes if it's perfect?

The truth is that we will never be able to give as perfect and complete a yes as Mary did. Free from the effects of original sin, Mary is uniquely able to make a complete gift of herself to God. For us, in whom some wounds of original sin remain (see Catechism #1264), our yes will always require more effort.

The good news in all of this is that the Lord still wants us to offer our yes to him, even if it is imperfect. His grace will help us, even pulling and dragging us at times when our yes struggles.

Qualified Christian holiness begins with man's free "Yes" to his election and his faithfulness in carrying out his commission. It would be quite wrong to say that this "Yes" is equally weak and feeble in all who are thus called; on the contrary: some give a full "Yes", others a clear "No"; others say, "Perhaps"; one says, "Not now, but later", or "Yes in part". Those who utter a wholehearted "Yes" will sometimes stumble or hesitate or fail to live up to their first ideal, but grace will help them up again.
They will stick to their path, and very often it is the case that God's task takes over and relentlessly drags their poor, protesting person ever onward. Thus, God has gained the upper hand in them over themselves. It is not they who possess a mission, but their mission possesses them. This mission can be anything: a mission of prayer, of suffering, of active involvement for the poor and oppressed, a mission to a small circle of people who need support and the comfort of a light, a public mission or a hidden mission, a successful mission or one doomed to failure: the only important thing is that man stays faithful to it.
Now we are at the center of the mystery of Christian holiness, and also at the center of the mystery of today's feast. The man in whom the mission has won precedence over his private personality has become dispossessed, expropriated in favor of it, for the sake of God and his fellowmen. He is a ploughed field in which God's word can and will bear fruit. (1)

TODAY’S PRAYER:

St. Paul knew what it was like to struggle in the life of faith and how God's strength could still prevail. Pray through the verses below and take encouragement in Paul's words. Paul shares that he has not reached perfection yet, but just keeps striving toward the goal. These are good words for us to hear during these days of Advent as we offer our own imperfect yes to the Lord but keep pressing on without giving up.

Philippians 3:8-9,12-14
I count everything as loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all other things, and I regard them as so much rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.

It is not that I have already attained this or have yet reached perfection. But I press on to take hold of that for which Christ once took hold of me. Brethren, I do not claim to have taken hold of it as yet. Only this one thing: forgetting what is behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the finishing line to win the heavenly prize to which God has called me in Christ Jesus.

FOR YOUR REFLECTION:

*Alexander Ivanov, Archangel Gabriel Struck Zechariah Mute. 1824.*

Alexander Ivanov was a Russian painter best known for his great work, The Appearance of Christ Before the People. Much of Ivanov's other works are sketches and incomplete canvases that could be considered masterpieces in their own right.

The work depicted here – the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to Zechariah – is rather uncommon in the history of art. Maybe that shouldn't surprise us since Zechariah's response to Gabriel is a struggling yes that results in his being struck mute. That's not nearly as inspiring as Mary's fiat. So, artists have used far more paint and canvas depicting the annunciation to Mary. But Zechariah captures all of us and our own struggling and weak yesses to the Lord. And in the end, God still wins, and Zechariah's tongue is loosed after the birth of John. So, it's hardly all bad news!

The brightly colored work here, with the jeweled stone floor of the Temple glowing, captures the moment when Gabriel stretches out his hand and arm to strike Zechariah mute for his unbelief.

The good news here is that Zechariah's imperfect yes to the Lord did not completely interrupt God's plan. And in this we can find hope for ourselves as we offer our own yes to the Lord this season of Advent:

Sometimes for me, and I think for many of us, one of the greatest sources of despondency is that perfection in the spiritual life, understanding of the faith, even friendship with God, does not come all at once. The gradual process of growing in these things can sometimes strike me as especially frustrating. Why can’t all of these things just come at once? Advent does something to pull us out of this feeling, for it’s a season which expresses desire and longing most perfectly as the words of the expectant prophets become, quite literally in the Divine Office, our song. (2)

For your continued prayer, return to the verses from Philippians and take courage from Paul, who tells us he hasn't reached perfection yet but keeps striving. Then choose one of the Prayers of Surrender to make your offering to the Lord again. It may be imperfect, but the Lord will use it to help you keep growing in your generosity toward him.

Hans Urs von Balthasar, You Crown the Year with Your Goodness : Radio Sermons. San Francisco: Ignatius Press. 2006.
Brother Albert Elias Robertson, O.P. (2019, December 10). Advent Art: The Angel Gabriel Appearing to Zechariah, by Alexander Ivanov. The Dominican Friars in Britain.
https://www.english.op.org/godzdogz/advent-art-the-angel-gabriel-appearing-to-zechariah-by-alexander-ivanov/

The Gospel of Yes Daily Reflection for Dec. 13, 2023