Being vulnerable

Blessed is the fruit of your womb. (Luke 1:42)

From poisonous snakes to the neighborhood cat, animals have always had ways of defending themselves. They use their teeth, their claws, and even putrid odors to ward off attackers. Humans have ways of defending themselves too. Weapons, walls, and trained armies are just a few possibilities. We also have emotional defenses, don’t we? Yet if you look at today’s readings, you see a God who comes to us in one of the most defenseless ways possible: as a baby. 

Jesus could have come as a mighty warrior, a wise sage, or a majestic king. But he didn’t. He came as a baby so that he could go through all the stages of growth and development and so become a beacon for everyone. He came in poverty to show that every human being, no matter their status, is important to God. He didn’t come only for the wealthy and powerful. He didn’t come only to the educated or influential. He came to embrace every person, including you.

It was an incredible risk of love, wasn’t it? Jesus put all his cards on the table—and not just in his birth. He continued his way of humble vulnerability right up to his death on the cross. Even today, he comes to us in remarkably vulnerable ways: in our fellow parishioners, in the poor and needy, and in the form of simple bread and wine. That’s how valuable we are to him!

Right now, as you read these words, Jesus is standing before you. He is inviting you to respond to his vulnerability by being vulnerable yourself, by opening up your heart and letting him in. Welcome him in his smallness and humility.

Infants don’t look at the messes around them; they don’t judge or criticize. They have no defenses and no misgivings about you. They just want to love and be loved. Maybe it’s the first time, or maybe it’s the hundredth; still, dare to let down your defenses, and be as vulnerable to Jesus as he is to you.

“Lord, help me to open my heart to you, just as you have opened yours to me.”

from wau.org