I have no idea if it’s true or not, as I am not a doctor, but I have heard it said before that when broken bones heal, they grow back stronger in the place where they broke. Even if it’s not true (and I’m sure the medical professionals in the parish will educate me on this), it can certainly provide helpful inspiration for the moments when we face adversity and are overwhelmed by life’s challenges. We fall, we pick ourselves up, and we take another run at it; it’s the American way. It also emphasizes an important point that comes up throughout the scriptures, and that is that God’s power is made perfect in weakness.  

We like to operate from a position of strength, but frequently in the Gospel and in the New Testament letters, we are encouraged to submit ourselves to God in our weakness and trust in God to fill in the gaps. One would not expect the all-powerful God to become man, but here we are. One would not expect God to enter into time as a defenseless child, but there He is. One would not expect Our Lord and Savior to experience the shameful death of crucifixion, and yet, we know the story. God operates through our weakness so that we cannot lie to ourselves and say that we prop ourselves up solely through our own efforts, and frankly, it is an immense comfort to know that when we have exhausted our strength and ingenuity, God will be there to make up what is lacking. We face immense pressure in other areas of our lives to be perfect, but the message of the Gospel is that God wants us to give ourselves entirely to Him, warts and all.  

This reality is underscored by both the first reading and the Gospel this week calling out attention to the land of Zebulun and Naphtali. They probably sound like non-descript ancient lands to us, but they had immense significance to the people of Israel in Jesus’ time because of the tragedy that befell God’s people through them. When the Babylonians brought Israel into exile, they entered and defeated their foes first through Zebulun and Naphtali. The lands of these tribes were as significant to the people of Israel as Fort Sumter, Ground Zero, or other places of military or geo-politically notable events. These places were notable for the destruction that was wrought through their fall, and now they will become notable as the place from which the Savior of the World came forth. Weak in the eyes of the world, they have become the locus of unimaginable strength.
 
Beautifully, God desires to do the same thing in our lives. The places where we are most prone to sin, failure, and shame are the places that God wants to heal and transform. And when these wounds are healed and bound up, how much more powerful will our testimony to the power of Christ be? No one wants to hear from people who have always been perfect. But the world longs to hear of the possibility of transformation, and that is what is at the heart of the Gospel. This week, reflect on the healing you have experienced, or the healing you still need, and entrust it to the Lord that it might make you an ever more impactful witness to the Gospel.  
 
Prayers always, 
Fr. McC