Discover the Power of Abandonment to God

A lot of us are feeling very frustrated and helpless with all of the problems that we are facing, today in our lives, country and Church – especially when we begin to realize how deep are the roots of evil…how powerful are the roots of evil  behind some of these problems – what can we do or I do? – in the word of God today the Lord is revealing a very powerful act that we can make – in today’s Mass is a Divine opportunity to do that – first example is King David, who was a very extraordinary person, strong, courageous, handsome, warrior, leader, general, and had become a king and was very successful – very gifted person, a musician, poet, and a person since youth had a strong faith – today we hear that King David was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from his enemies on every side – he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am living in a house of cedar while the arc of God dwells in a tent.” – David wants to build a house for the Lord – if you had been there and you heard David say that, what would your response be? – Nathan thought it was a great idea – Nathan told him, “ Go and do whatever you have in mind, the Lord is with you.” – Nathan is also a prophet, so that night the Lord speaks to him and He says, “ Go tell My servant David, thus says the Lord, should you build Me a house to dwell in? It was I who took you from the pasture and from the care of the flock to be the commander of My people Israel.  I have been with you wherever you went and I have destroyed all your enemies before you.” – The point the Lord is making is you didn’t destroy your enemies, the Lord did – when the Lord gives many gifts like He did with David, there is always the danger of pride – the Lord is reminding David what David has achieved is because the Lord Himself has done it – the Lord insists, He said that He would make David famous – He will fix a place for His people Israel, not you – I will plant them, so they may dwell in their place without further disturbance – He told David He will give him rest from all of his enemies – God Himself proposing Himself to do this – this is not just a simple thing, this is a military effort that David has been involved in – Nathan told David that the Lord will establish a house for you – so instead of David building a house for God, God is building a house for David – what does He mean by a house…not just a building, He means a dynasty…the House of David – to emphasize this God said it will happen after David dies – David has to entrust himself to the Lord, because this is going to happen, when David is no longer able to act on this earth – “When your time comes, and you rest with your ancestors I will raise up an heir after you sprung from your loins and I will make His kingdom firm, I will be a Father to Him and He shall be a Son to Me , Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before Me” – this is because it is God’s action – so David who is such a man of action the Lord has to remind him this is God’s doing – David’s success becomes a temptation to him and he falls into very serious sin – it is important for David to have humility and realize it is God’s work more than it is his work – then the Gospel gives us a very different situation – so this is a woman and at that time women were considered second class citizens – she is an orphan with no siblings, so she is alone – she is not from a wealthy powerful family – she would be considered un important and from an insignificant town – and so the Angel Gabriel comes to her with a great revelation – how does Mary not respond? – she doesn’t say she is so grateful or it is fantastic – she didn’t say she had all sorts of plans she is going to do for Him – she doesn’t even say that she wanted to obey the Lord – but what does she say? – she says, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word.” ( Fiat) – a powerful word and is powerful, because we see the effects, it is something that never happened before –  God becomes incarnate in her – so we see three degrees, the first is I want to do something good for God – David wanted to do something good for God, it is good but imperfect , because it was his ideas and him that was doing it – so much that happens in the Church is we have good ideas, but they are human ideas – so it my idea and our idea and us doing it – second degree is wanting to obey God and do God’s will, which is much better – but it is still me in the driver seat- it is still me in control – what does Mary do here? It is a third degree a higher degree – she doesn’t’ say, God I am going to do this for You – she doesn’t say I am going to obey You – she says, “Let it be done to me according to your word.” – she abandons herself to the Lord – she opens wide the door to the Lord – the problem with God is He respects our free will – He doesn’t force it upon us – Mary is the one who abandons herself completely to God…giving Him permission to do whatever He wants to do in her life – it is a supreme act of trust to let God drive, not just obey, but let God drive – let Him go where He wants – so this abandonment of Mary is not an act of weakness, but an act of extreme strength – not an act of stupidity – Mary has this wisdom to abandon herself to He who is the truth – it is an action of great courage and boldness – she is abandoning herself completely to the Lord, as a young girl all alone taking this step by herself – there is no one that she can consult to take this step, she is just a young woman all alone with this extraordinary experience – she has the courage to take this step – Mary is not a person so easily manipulated, she is so independent – dependence on God makes her independent of all the human and diabolical snares, which catch us so often – it is Mary’s strength, independence, wisdom, boldness which are manifested in this daring act of abandonment – so what happens, when Mary surrenders herself to God?  What does God do? – He surrenders Himself to her, becoming a little child – just beginning in her – God entrusted Himself to her – He doesn’t take advantage, He abandons Himself into her care – this act of abandonment is the greatest act for the liberation of humanity – for the salvation of humanity – for the destruction of satan – Mary is showing us the path of abandonment – it is powerful, because it lets God act – it isn’t just me trying to do something good, not just trying to obey God, it is me giving God permission to act in me and my life – this is the true super power, which is no longer human, which is Divine to act in my life – this is what we see happening in Mary’s life , there is a Divine power and a Divine presence acting in her life, the only power that can save the world from satan – obviously Mary is unique, but is an example to each one of us – even if we feel week or abilities, our strength, our courage, our virtues are limited…that is not the problem – if we abandon ourselves to God despite our own limitations, God can act in us – David who had such extraordinary gifts, but the Lord acted much more powerfully through our Blessed Mother – in fact our own weaknesses and struggles can be a help for us, because they can help us be more humble and open ourselves to God’s action – the Lord says to St. Paul, “ My power is made perfect in weakness.”  He can use human weakness to act – as long as we are on this earth it is never too late to say to God in this Mass, that I want to abandon myself to You – it isn’t easy it can be very difficult – any effort we make in this path is very valuable – it is difficult, but any step we take in this abandonment is a powerful step – so today as we celebrate this fourth Sunday of Advent, 2020…this important, critical year, very difficult year, because it is a very important year – you and I have been chosen to live in this great, critical moment – in this Advent of 2020 – what happens in this Holy Eucharist at Mass, Jesus wants to entrust Himself and abandon Himself into your life, into your care – whether we receive Jesus in Holy Communion or in an act of Spiritual Communion, the sense is the same…Jesus wanting to give Himself…not just to Mary, but to you, that is what happens in the Eucharist and it is an opportunity, a lot of people waste opportunities in their lives – this is an opportunity to make the most of your life, by opening wide the door to God – entrusting yourself not to your ideas, not to your abilities or some human guide, but to the Holy Spirit Himself – so the Mass, today…the Gospel, today… with St. Joseph with our Blessed Mother is an opportunity to abandon ourselves to the Lord –  the Lord said in the beginning of our little Mission there are three spiritual basis for the Mission of Divine Mercy…one is mercy, God’s mercy…one is faith…third one is abandonment – abandonment to His love and will – so with our Blessed Mother let us also say,  Fiat – Behold the servant of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word…Amen