16 December 2026 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Latin Rite · Syro-Malabar Rite · മലയാളം
“but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
Jesus, after praying alone, asks his disciples two questions. First: “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They answer: John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the ancient prophets. Then the decisive one: “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answers, “The Messiah of God.” Opinions about Jesus are many; each of us must give our own answer. Christmas puts the same question to every person who looks at the child in the manger.
Paul tells of “a thorn in the flesh” that he begged the Lord three times to remove. The answer was not removal but grace: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So Paul boasts of his weaknesses, “for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” God chose to come to us as a weak infant; he still meets us in our weakness, not only in our strength.
Theme: “My grace is sufficient for you.”
Confessing Christ; strong in weakness.
“I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides me there is no god.” Isaiah 45:5
“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.”” Luke 9:20
Apply: Write in one sentence who Jesus is for you.
“He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.” Isaiah 40:29
“but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”” 2 Corinthians 12:9
Apply: Bring one persistent weakness to God.
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26
“Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10
Apply: Thank God for one weakness that taught you to trust him.
Jesus asks for our answer.
His grace is enough for our weakness.
Take-home resolution: Say each morning: Lord, your grace is enough for me.
Dear friends, St Paul speaks of a thorn in his flesh. Three times he begged the Lord to take it away, but the Lord said to him: my grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. So Paul says: I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:7–10).
Many of us carry thorns: illness, a difficult family situation, a temptation that returns, a loss that does not heal. We pray, and the thorn remains. God's answer to Paul is also for us: my grace is sufficient.
In the Gospel Jesus is praying alone with his disciples nearby. He asks them: who do the crowds say that I am? They give various answers: John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets. Then he asks: but who do you say that I am? Peter answers: the Messiah of God (Luke 9:18–20).
Notice that this question comes after Jesus has been praying. Knowing who Jesus is comes from prayer, not just from information.
Jesus asks us the same question as Yaldo approaches: who do you say that I am? A baby in a crib? A good teacher? A distant God? Or the Messiah of God, my Lord and Saviour, who gives me grace in my weakness?
During this fast, let us answer Jesus personally, in prayer. And let us bring him our thorns, not only asking for their removal, but asking for the grace to carry them with him. His grace is sufficient. Amen.
Children, Jesus asks you: who am I for you? Tell Him today: Jesus, you are my friend and my God!
Lord Jesus, Messiah of God, we confess you as our Lord. When our thorns remain, let your grace be enough for us, and let your power be made perfect in our weakness. Amen.
Paul asks three times to have his thorn removed and hears, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Jesus, after praying alone, asks, “But who do you say that I am?” The Epistle teaches us how to live with what God does not take away; the Gospel teaches us who it is that we are trusting. In the fast before Yaldo we learn that the One who comes in the weakness of a child is the Anointed of God.
Setting.
In 2 Corinthians 10–13 Paul defends himself against rivals who boasted of their gifts and mocked him: “his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible” (10:10). Forced to boast, he lists his sufferings (11:23–33) and then speaks, with great reserve, of being caught up to “the third heaven” (12:2). Today's verses are the answer to that vision: what God gave Paul to keep him humble.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.” (12:7)
“Was given” suggests that God is the giver, though Satan is the tormentor. Even the enemy's work is turned to serve God's purpose. St John Chrysostom took the thorn to mean Paul's human opponents (in substance); others have proposed an illness or a recurring temptation. The text does not settle it.
“Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me,” (12:8)
Paul prayed as Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, more than once for the same thing (Matthew 26:44). Asking again is not a lack of faith.
““My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”” (12:9)
God does say “no”, but this “no” contains a better gift. The answer to the prayer was not the removal of the thorn, but the presence of Christ.
“for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (12:10)
This does not praise weakness for its own sake. It says that when our own resources run out, we finally have room for his.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism quotes this verse in two places: faith “glories in its weaknesses in order to draw to itself Christ's power” (CCC 273), and Paul had to learn that even the most intense prayers do not always obtain healing (CCC 1508). The second is especially comforting to the sick and to those who pray for them.
Setting.
Luke places this scene right after the feeding of the five thousand (9:10–17). Earlier in the chapter Herod had asked, “who is this about whom I hear such things?” (9:9), and had heard the same three opinions: John, Elijah, an old prophet. Mark sets the same question near Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:27). Luke omits the place and tells us something else instead: Jesus was praying.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them,” (9:18)
Luke often shows Jesus praying before decisive moments (3:21; 6:12; 9:28). This confession is born in the atmosphere of his prayer.
““But who do you say that I am?”” (9:20)
In Greek “you” comes first and is emphatic. Reports about other people's opinions are not enough; each disciple must answer in person.
“Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.”” (9:20)
The answer is right, but incomplete. Jesus at once adds that the Son of Man must suffer, be killed and be raised (9:21–22).
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism teaches that Jesus accepted Peter's confession and at once announced the coming Passion, which gives the title its true meaning (CCC 440). It also notes that in Luke Jesus prays before the decisive moments of his mission (CCC 2600). The Church's answer to the question is the Creed, which we confess at every Holy Qurbono.