The Gospel of Yes Daily Reflection for Dec. 7, 2023
DECEMBER 7, 2023
THURSDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT
A YES TO THE MERCY OF GOD
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:
We are continuing to fix our eyes on the Lord, to seek the face of the Lord. Today, it is the merciful face of the Lord that we look upon. Our yes to God is a yes to his merciful love.
Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy. These words might well sum up the mystery of the Christian faith. Mercy has become living and visible in Jesus of Nazareth, reaching its culmination in him. The Father, “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4), after having revealed his name to Moses as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex 34:6), has never ceased to show, in various ways throughout history, his divine nature. In the “fullness of time” (Gal 4:4), when everything had been arranged according to his plan of salvation, he sent his only Son into the world, born of the Virgin Mary, to reveal his love for us in a definitive way. Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father (cf. Jn 14:9). Jesus of Nazareth, by his words, his actions, and his entire person reveals the mercy of God.
We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it. Mercy: the word reveals the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Mercy: the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us. Mercy: the fundamental law that dwells in the heart of every person who looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers and sisters on the path of life. Mercy: the bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness.” (1)
TODAY’S PRAYER:
It is mercy that we are saying yes to this Advent.
After the sin of Adam and Eve, God did not wish to leave humanity alone in the throes of evil. And so he turned his gaze to Mary, holy and immaculate in love (cf. Eph 1:4), choosing her to be the Mother of man’s Redeemer. When faced with the gravity of sin, God responds with the fullness of mercy. Mercy will always be greater than any sin, and no one can place limits on the love of God who is ever ready to forgive. (2)
God turns his merciful gaze to Mary, who responds with a complete and total yes to his plan for salvation. Looking on the merciful face of the Father, Mary joins her heart to God's great plan and so becomes the Mother of Mercy. Pray through these verses from Psalm 103, which tell of the Lord's great mercy. With Our Lady, gaze on the face of the Father, responding with your own yes to his plan of mercy.
Psalm 103:1-12
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all within me, his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and never forget all his benefits.
It is the Lord who forgives all your sins,
who heals every one of your ills,
who redeems your life from the grave,
who crowns you with mercy and compassion,
who fills your life with good things,
renewing your youth like an eagle’s.
The Lord does just deeds,
gives full justice to all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
and his deeds to the children of Israel.
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger and rich in mercy.
He will not always find fault;
nor persist in his anger forever.
He does not treat us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our faults.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so strong his mercy for those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far from us does he remove our transgressions.
Hail Holy Queen, Moth-
er of Mercy, Our life, our
sweetness, and our hope…
FOR YOUR REFLECTION:
Mikhail Nesterov, Annunciation. 19th century
The animated and brightly colorful Annunciation by the Russian painter Mikhail Nesterov (1862-1942) seems to anticipate Our Lady’s Magnificat spoken in reply to Elizabeth immediately after the Annunciation:
“The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is from age to age
to those who fear him.
(Luke 1:49-50)
Mary’s arms are raised not only in openness to God but even in praise of his great mercy, "for he looked with favor on his lowly servant." In the painting, Mary seems to be responding in joyful love to the mercy of God, who has come to save his people.
This “looking with favor” by God that Mary speaks of in her Magnificat is always a look of merciful love. It looks upon the lowly and does great things, not because it has been earned, but solely because of God’s great favor. How can one not say yes to such great and merciful love?
The more we spend time gazing on the merciful face of God, revealed in Jesus, the more we naturally want to give our own yes back to him.
For your continued prayer today, return to Psalm 103 above, and then use one of the Prayers of Surrender and Abandonment as your response to his mercy.
Misericordiae Vultus, #1-2, Pope Francis. Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, 2015.
Ibid., #3.