The Gospel of Yes Daily Reflection for Dec. 16, 2023
DECEMBER 16, 2023
SATURDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT
A YES “NOT BY OBLIGATION BUT BY DELIGHT”
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:
Today, we revisit the theme with which we started these reflections: Our yes to the Lord is a joyful yes to the goodness, love, and mercy of God. It is not just a dry act of the will, nor is it just a yes of duty and obligation. The reason that we have spent these days of Advent taking time to pray and gazing on the beauty of the Lord is so that we can be drawn to him, attracted to him, that it would be our delight to say yes to him.
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." (John 6:44)
Commenting on this verse from John's Gospel, St. Augustine speaks about the power of attraction, drawing us to God:
"What splendid praise of grace! Nobody comes unless drawn. Are you not yet being drawn? Pray to be drawn.
Do not imagine that you are being drawn against your will; the soul is also drawn by love. Nor should we fear [those] saying to us, “How can I believe by choice if I am being drawn?” I, in turn, say, “Your will is less important than you think; you are also drawn by pleasure.”
What does it mean to be drawn by pleasure?
Delight in the Lord, and he will give you the appeals of your heart (Ps 36:4). There is a pleasure of the heart for the one for whom that heavenly bread is sweet. If the poet could once say, “Each one is by his pleasure drawn,” not by necessity but by pleasure, not by obligation but by delight, how much more strongly should we say that those whose delight is in the truth, whose delight is in happiness, whose delight is in justice, whose delight is in eternal life, are drawn to Christ, because each of those is Christ.
You show a bunch of green leaves to a sheep, and you draw her. Nuts are shown to a small boy, and he is drawn; and he runs where he is drawn to, he is drawn by love, drawn without any harm to his body, drawn by a cord of the heart. So, if these things, which are revealed to their lovers among earthly delights and pleasures, draw, how true it is that “each one is by his pleasure drawn.” Will not Christ draw us, when revealed by the Father? After all, what can the soul desire more eagerly than Truth? What ought to make its mouth water more, what better reason could it have for wanting a healthy inner palate, sensitive enough to judge the truth of things, than the prospect of eating and drinking Wisdom, Justice, Truth, Eternity. (1)
Augustine's words are amazing as he teaches us: "Your will is less important than you think; you are also drawn by pleasure.” This is what we have been praying for this Advent: to be drawn to the Lord, attracted to him, by his beauty, truth, and goodness. Our will is crucial, obviously. But our yes to the Lord is also aided by the grace of attraction. How are you letting the Lord attract you to himself?
During these remaining days of Advent, as things become even busier in our daily lives, keep meeting the Lord in prayer, Adoration, silence, and the Sacraments. Only when we spend time with him can he attract us to himself, not by obligation but by delight.
FOR YOUR REFLECTION:
Today, let's return to the Merode Altarpiece and the image of Mary. Here, as in so many paintings of the Annunciation, Our Lady is shown praying with the Scriptures. This is one of the principal ways God attracts and draws us to himself.
The beauty of God's Word can grab our heart's attention, captivate us, and draw us to the One who speaks those words.
For your continued prayer today, spend time with the verses from Psalm 19 below.
Psalm 19:8-11
The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The decree of the Lord is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart.
The command of the Lord is clear,
enlightening the eye.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The statutes of the Lord are true,
all of them just;
More desirable than gold,
than a hoard of purest gold,
Sweeter also than honey
or drippings from the comb.
"Saint Augustine, Homilies on the Gospel of John 1–40, ed. Allan D. Fitzgerald and Boniface Ramsey, trans. Edmund Hill, vol. 12, The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2009), 452–454.