Glory in Weakness!

2 Corinthians 11:30

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

Saturday is a day that reminds us of the enormous power of God’s weakness.  In the Jewish calendar, of course, Saturday is the day of God’s rest, the one day of the week where God didn’t do anything.  Yet, paradoxically it has an importance above all the others and is reserved as holy.  In a similar way, Saturday is, in the Christian calendar, the day of Christ’s entombment and his sojourn among the dead.  On that day, God rested in the sleep of death itself, apparently powerless over the decay and rot to which all creation is subjected in futility.  The whole work of creation, the entire history of Israel, the whole life of Christ—it all had come to an idiotic and wasteful stop, it seemed.  A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, a colossal anticlimax.  But in reality, God’s act in redemption, like his act in creation was centered in the mystery of Holy Saturday, that strange dark day where life went down into the heart of death and liberated those who were held captive there—as was shown fully on the New Sabbath, the Eighth Day of Creation, which is the Resurrection.  For “the weakness of God is stronger than men.” Today, thank God for the gift of weakness that makes his power manifest.

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Mark P. Shea is a popular Catholic writer and speaker. The author of numerous books, his most recent work is The Work of Mercy (Servant) and The Heart of Catholic Prayer (Our Sunday Visitor). Mark contributes numerous articles to many magazines, including his popular column “Connecting the Dots” for the National Catholic Register. Mark is known nationally for his one minute “Words of Encouragement” on Catholic radio. He also maintains the Catholic and Enjoying It blog and regularly blogs for National Catholic Register. He lives in Washington state with his wife, Janet, and their four sons.

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