Today’s Theme for Prayer – Jesus Makes Me His Intimate Disciple
“For the Souls in Purgatory – Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord”
How Do I Gain Deeper Personal Knowledge of God
All the virtues co-operate with the intellect to produce this intense longing for God, pure prayer above all. For by soaring towards God through this prayer the intellect rises above the realm of created beings. St. Maximus the Confessor
“The Strength Found in Surrender”
II Cor 12:1-10
I must boast; not that it is profitable, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know someone in Christ who, fourteen years ago, whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows, was caught up to the third heaven. And I know that this person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—was caught up into Paradise and heard ineffable things, which no one may utter. About this person I will boast, but about myself I will not boast, except about my weaknesses. Although if I should wish to boast, I would not be foolish, for I would be telling the truth. But I refrain, so that no one may think more of me than what he sees in me or hears from me because of the abundance of the revelations.
Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he 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.
Grace Prayed For
The grace to trust in God’s sufficiency, embracing our weaknesses as places of encounter with His transforming love.
Reflection
There is a paradox at the heart of our faith: in surrender, we find strength; in weakness, we encounter power; in emptiness, we are filled. Paul’s words lead us into the mystery of God’s love—a love that does not remove suffering but transforms it, that does not always grant relief but gives grace enough to endure.
Christ invites us to experience His strength precisely where we feel weakest. The thorn in Paul’s flesh became a portal for divine power, not an obstacle to it. Likewise, our wounds, limitations, and struggles—those places where we feel most fragile—are where Jesus desires to dwell. He does not wait for us to be strong before He comes to us; He enters our weakness, making it a meeting place between our poverty and His abundance.
The Trinity itself is a mystery of self-giving love, a perfect communion where strength flows through surrender. The Father pours Himself into the Son, the Son into the Spirit, and the Spirit into us. When we embrace our limitations, we enter into this divine exchange, allowing God to be our sufficiency. Instead of striving for self-sufficiency, we can rest in the sufficiency of grace, trusting that His power will be made perfect in us.
Union with God does not come through self-reliance but through abandonment to Love. As we lay down our pride, our need to control, our longing for perfection, we discover a deeper intimacy with Jesus—the One who bore the ultimate weakness of the Cross and revealed through it the infinite strength of Love. Let us not fear our thorns, but offer them to Christ, that His power may dwell in us, making us strong in Him.
Growing in Intimacy/Union with Jesus
This passage invites us to draw near to Christ by allowing Him to enter our weaknesses. Instead of seeing our struggles as barriers to intimacy, we can welcome them as invitations to deeper reliance on His grace. In doing so, we unite ourselves to Jesus, who Himself embraced human weakness and suffering, revealing the strength of divine love through the Cross.
When Time Allows Reflect on the Posts in Library and Musings
Sharing
Jesus last words on Earth were to his disciples, can be found in Matthew Chap 28 when Jesus told his disciples, “Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Jesus calls all of us to share in his redemptive mission here on Earth. I would ask you to share this Scripture reflection with your family, your friends and your acquaintances, and then share it with a couple of individuals that you may may not be comfortable sharing with, keeping in mind always the words of Jesus, And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age
Author was assisted by AI in the drafting of this Post