The Gospel of Yes Daily Reflection for Dec. 18, 2023
DECEMBER 18, 2023
MONDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT
A YES TO MY WEAKNESSES
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:
Our yes to the Lord is also a yes to our own weakness, our dependence on the Lord. Perhaps you may have thought that saying yes to the Lord would mean you must do everything on your own to live out that yes. Maybe you thought saying yes to God also meant saying "I got this!" to the Lord.
Thankfully, this is not the case. Our yes to the Lord is also a yes to our own weakness. It is a yes that also says, "I can't do this on my own."
In sacred art, Joseph is often depicted asleep. This is not just because the Lord often spoke to Joseph in dreams. It is also a sign of our basic human weakness and frailty. Joseph represents each of us in that way. But the good news is that the Lord still works through our weakness. Our tiredness, our exhaustion, and our struggles do not prevent the Lord from working. There is such good news here!
Making a yes to God that includes a yes to our weakness is one of the great secrets of the spiritual life. In fact, St. Thérèse of Lisieux was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church exactly because of this secret of "the little way" which marked her relationship with God. “It is so good to feel that one is weak and little!” (1) Thérèse declared.
Her "Little Way" was this:
“To recognize our nothingness, to expect everything from God as a little child expects everything from its father… to be disquieted about nothing, and not to be set on gaining our living, that is, the eternal life of heaven.”
Pope Pius XII declared of St. Thérèse's Little Way: “It is the Gospel itself; it is the heart of the Gospel that she rediscovered; but with what grace and freshness: ‘If you do not become like children, you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.’ (Mt 18:3)”
There is such good news in all of this! We can make a bold yes to the Lord not because we are super strong and independent, able to do all things, but precisely because we are not. Our weaknesses are meant to become a cause of rejoicing as we turn to the Lord with the confidence of children, saying yes to the Lord and saying yes to our own weaknesses.
TODAY’S PRAYER:
The message of St. Thérèse was already found in the Gospel and in the words of St. Paul. Pray through these verses below with Paul and Thérèse, asking for help today to welcome the truth of your weakness as you offer your yes to the Lord:
2 Corinthians 11:30, 12:9-10
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness… The Lord said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
FOR YOUR REFLECTION:
Stefano Maria Legnani (1660–1715), The Dream of St. Joseph
Many of the paintings of Joseph show him sound asleep. While this captures the way the Lord often spoke to Joseph in his dreams, it also captures the human reality of his exhaustion and weakness. These were not obstacles for the Lord, but something that actually gave God more room to be at work. When we sleep, we are more docile to God. We tend to wrestle with him less when sleeping (except for Jacob!) What is true of our sleep is true of our weaknesses in general: God's power is made perfect in our weakness.
Notice how deeply Joseph is sleeping in this painting by Legnani. His right hand has relaxed and fallen open on his lap as his head remains propped up by his left hand. In the back, to the left, Mary is feeding the baby Jesus in the light of a brightly burning candle.
Even while Joseph is asleep, God is at work. This is such a reassuring truth! In our own weakness and frailty, God is always at work. And as St. Paul learned, it is in our weakness that God's strength and power is made perfect. So don't be afraid of saying yes to the Lord and then falling asleep.
For your continued prayer today, offer one of the Prayers of Surrender and Abandonment, aware of your weakness but trusting in God's strength and power.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Her Last Conversations, tr. J. Clarke, OCD (Washington, D.C.: Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1977), p. 74.
Conversations, p. 139.
Radio Message of Pope Pius XII for the Consecration of the Basilica of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux: http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/fr/speeches/1954/documents/hf_p-xii_spe_19540711_lisieux.html