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Greetings once again!
I will come right out and say it: procrastination got the better of me! I try so hard to fight against it, yet many times it wins and I end up in situations like this whereby I know I would have had much more peace if I just sat down last month and wrote an article. Anyhow, by God's grace, I am here tonight and I pray that the Spirit will lead me to place on this page all that God wants to express through me at this moment in time. Despite not having written since December, I have been pondering topics - mainly due to the incredible education of heart, mind and soul I am receiving at the John Paul II Institute and, moreover, through the journey of life itself. Tonight I feel impelled to reflect upon the concept of vulnerability, specifically in reflecting upon 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. In this powerful verse St. Paul states: “...but He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.' So I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” In taking time in prayer to ponder this verse, the paradox of what is written here continues to penetrate my heart and mind. Living in a world where the mentality is “the strong survive”, this passage in St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians challenges us to take a step back and truly reflect upon the life and mission of Christ. We, His followers, are called to conform our own lives to His. It strikes me, in my own life that, even though I am weak in many areas, I have not come to embrace my weaknesses, as such. In fact, I find the usual route is to fight against them or pray for deliverance from them. However, as I grow in my love of and for Christ, I am beginning to see that it is precisely in acknowledging and truly embracing my vulnerability that I will have a share in His peace. (“So I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me”). The passage of St. Paul reminds us that this life is truly not “all about us” - but instead it is about us IN Christ. We are called to bring ourselves, naked and vulnerable, before Him so that we might be shown the truth about ourselves, made in and through Him. More than this even, I think, is the challenge to make oneself vulnerable to the world – to others. Our culture is pervaded with so much superficiality – we are afraid of exposing our true selves in the fear of rejection. I believe, in many respects, despite the Incarnation of Christ, that we have lost (or maybe have yet to come to) an understanding of what it means to be truly human – we struggle with accepting that there is dignity, power and strength in suffering, weakness and smallness. This passage from St. Paul reminds us, as in the Encyclical of John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (n.12)1, that we must strive in our culture to replace “efficiency” with “patience” and the notion of “worldly power” with “joyful humility” - we must seek Christ in what is weak, small and vulnerable. We need to penetrated by the gaze of Christ and, in turn, to ponder His very life which reveals to us what it means to be human (Gaudium et Spes n.22) 2 This week in one of my classes, my professor, in regard to the power of God's revelation, stated: “Jesus began life as a zygote”. This sentence, even though the class got a chuckle out of it – is so very profound. Jesus, the Son of God – Gods' very Incarnation of self, came to the world in complete and utter vulnerability. God was revealed as God precisely in powerlessness, leading my professor to comment that a name of God could be “complete vulnerability”. God began His life as a child and ended it hanging on a cross - all to show us that the power of love is the power to give one's self away in totality. True love is complete exposure of self – true love is the ability to be vulnerable, to be transparent, to boast in weakness and to give of self so as to be affected by another. Let us pray that we may have the courage of St. Paul to live in the confidence that in Christ, when we are weak, we are strong. Let us pray that the words “My grace is sufficient” will resound in our being and enable us to embrace our own vulnerability and to seek those in our world who feel they have lost their dignity because of weakness and fragility of being. Let us pray that Mary will intercede for us, and show us the true path to humility – helping us recognize that power is made perfect in weakness.
May God bless you Jennifer Abell 1“This culture is actively fostered by powerful cultural, economic and political currents which encourage an idea of society excessively concerned with efficiency....a life which would require greater acceptance, love and care is considered useless, or held to be an intolerable burden, and is therefore rejected in one way or another...”pg. 27 |