DECEMBER 17, 2023

SUNDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT

A YES TO THE CROSS. A YES TO THE RESURRECTION.

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:

When Mary gave her yes to the Lord, did she realize all of the suffering that would come as a result of that 'yes'? Was she aware of how deeply she would share in her son's sufferings? The old man Simeon prophesied in the Temple, declaring to Mary: "You yourself a sword will pierce." (Luke 2:35) God gave him some spiritual insight into what would take place. But we don't know how much Mary may have sensed that same thing. Did Simeon's words confirm something Mary already knew? Or were those words a gift from God to prepare her for it?

What we do know for certain is that Mary's yes was a complete and total yes. Mary would not withdraw her yes or ever take it back. So when suffering came, her yes remained. It was a yes that contained so much faith and trust in God that she believed God would somehow work even in the sufferings, even in the Cross. She trusted that God was working even on Good Friday.

Because of her great trust, her yes to the Cross became a yes to the Resurrection. Mary believed and experienced firsthand what Fr. Stinissen spoke of:

God makes use of evil in such a superb way and with such skill that the result is better than if there had never been evil… Nothing falls outside of God’s plan. This is why the tragedy of the world, despite all its terror, has no definitive character. All the absurdity of which mankind's foolishness and blindness are capable is caught up in God’s loving omnipotence. He is able to fit even the absurd into his plan of salvation and thereby give it meaning. (1)

Our yes to the Lord is a yes to the Cross. Offering this yes requires us to believe that God's providence can really make all things work for the good of those who love him. It requires us to believe that God can even use the crosses we bear and the sufferings we endure to bring about some wonderful good. Believing this, and so offering our yes to the Lord, also becomes a yes to the Resurrection. Our yes now to the Cross will become a yes to the marvelous way in which all the absurdity of mankind's foolishness and blindness are caught up in God's loving omnipotence and thereby receive new meaning.

Today, make an act of faith in that truth. Believe with Mary that no evil or tragedy can disrupt God's providence from achieving what it sets out to do.

TODAY’S PRAYER:

Pray through these verses from Isaiah 53, the Song of the Suffering Servant. In this remarkable Old Testament prophecy, Isaiah foretells the suffering of the Lord. Perhaps the most remarkable thing here is that it is not useless or pointless suffering. This would have shocked the Old Testament mind in its way of thinking. Suffering had always been viewed as pointless since it was simply seen as paying the price for one's sins. But here, the suffering of God's servant is seen as salvation for his people. As you pray through this, ask the Lord for the grace to believe that God can make use of evil in such a superb way and with such skill that the result is better than if there had never been evil.

Isaiah 53:3-6;10-11
He was spurned and avoided by men,
a man of suffering, knowing pain,
Like one from whom you turn your face,
spurned, and we held him in no esteem.
Yet it was our pain that he bore,
our sufferings he endured.
We thought of him as stricken,
struck down by God and afflicted,
But he was pierced for our sins,
crushed for our iniquity.
He bore the punishment that makes us whole,
by his wounds we were healed.
We had all gone astray like sheep,
all following our own way;
But the Lord laid upon him
the guilt of us all.
By making his life as a reparation offering,
he shall see his offspring, shall lengthen his days,
and the Lord’s will shall be accomplished through him.
Because of his anguish he shall see the light;
because of his knowledge he shall be content;
My servant, the just one, shall justify the many,
their iniquity he shall bear.

FOR YOUR REFLECTION:

*Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, The Presentation of Christ in the Temple*

Gerbrand van den Eeckhout was a Dutch painter and pupil of Rembrandt during the Dutch Golden Age of the 1600s. In this etching of the Presentation, we see three central figures that form a triangle for the eye: 1) Simeon in the center-left, holding the child Jesus, 2) Joseph standing above him in the background, and 3) Mary in the center-right kneeling opposite of Simeon.

Simeon is holding the baby Jesus whose swaddling clothes reflect a heavenly light, reminiscent of Simeon's words about Jesus: He is "a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel." (Luke 2:32) Notice how Simeon, in shadow compared to the child Jesus, looks up to heaven. His face seems stern and foreboding, aware of what the child and his mother will suffer.

Kneeling down across from Simeon is Mary with her head cast down and hands joined together. It is the posture of one who slumps over under some great weight. We know what that weight is: she has heard the words of Simeon's prophecy. Mary looks like she could be kneeling at the foot of the cross rather than in the Temple.

In between Simeon and Mary, almost joining them, are the two turtledoves held by Joseph. They are to be sacrificed as an offering. They are the sign of the sacrifice of Jesus.

In this scene, we see clearly that Mary has already begun to share in the Cross of Christ her son. Her sorrow has already begun. The sword has already begun to pierce her heart. But all of that sadness will give way to the bright joy of Easter Sunday. Mary's yes to the Cross is also a yes to the Resurrection.

For your continued prayer today, offer one of the Prayers of Surrender and Abandonment, praying especially for the grace to believe that God can make use of evil in such a superb way and with such skill that the result is better than if there had never been evil.

Wilfrid Stinissen, Into Your Hands, Father: Abandoning Ourselves to the God Who Loves Us (Ignatius Press, 2011), 15-16.

The Gospel of Yes Daily Reflection for Dec. 17, 2023