Second Wednesday of Advent
Our Lady of Loretto
10 December 2025
He Gives Strength to the Weary
Advent continues to reveal something very personal about God:
He comes not for the strong,
but for the tired.
Not for the perfect,
but for the burdened.
Not for those who have it all together,
but for those who feel like they’re falling apart.
In today’s first reading,
Isaiah speaks to a people who were worn down…
emotionally, spiritually, physically.
They wondered if God had forgotten them.
They questioned whether He still cared.
And into that discouragement, Isaiah proclaims:
“The Lord is the eternal God…
He does not faint or grow weary…
He gives strength to the fainting,
and to the weak He gives vigor.”
Then comes a promise so powerful that God wants us to memorize it:
“They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength;
they will soar as with eagle’s wings.”
Not might renew their strength.
Not should renew their strength.
But will.
When we are exhausted,
God doesn’t scold us for being weak,
He enters into our weakness and lifts us.
And so Jesus,
God-with-us,
completes that prophecy in today’s Gospel.
He doesn’t say,
“Come to me, all you who are confident and successful…”
Nope.
He says:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.”
There are no conditions.
No prerequisites.
No need to fix ourselves first.
Jesus doesn’t wait for us to rise up,
He bends down to meet us.
And then He adds a line that is pure Advent hope:
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart…”
This is the only place in the entire Gospel where Jesus describes His own Heart —
and He chooses: humble and gentle.
There are many who try to rule us with fear.
Jesus rules with love.
And when we let Him rule our hearts…
we find rest.
A yoke sounds like something heavy…
but a yoke actually means shared burden.
Two animals are joined together
so that the load is carried by both.
Jesus is saying:
“You don’t have to pull life alone anymore.
I want to put my shoulder next to yours.
Let me carry the weight with you.”
Being yoked to Christ:
- gives direction when we feel lost
- gives strength when we feel weak
- gives peace when anxiety overwhelms
- gives rest when our souls are tired
When He is beside us,
the same burden becomes lighter.
There is one thing Jesus cannot do for us:
He cannot force us to come to Him.
God can search,
God can call,
God can invite
but we must respond.
Advent is when we look honestly at what’s weighing us down:
✔ the fear we’re carrying
✔ the grief we’re holding
✔ the resentment we haven’t released
✔ the questions that keep us up at night
✔ the hidden ache that others don’t see
And then we make the simplest prayer of Advent:
“Jesus, help me carry this.”
We don’t have to say anything eloquent.
We don’t have to have a perfect plan.
We only have to come.
To be weary isn’t a failure.
To be tired isn’t sin.
To need God isn’t weakness…
it’s worship.
The tired believer is the one whom Christ can actually lift.
The weary heart is the home where He most desires to rest.
This is why He was born in a manger —
not a palace.
He came to the poor, the small, the worn-down, the ordinary.
He comes where He is needed.
So today, let these words become personal:
“Come to me.”
…not the crowds
…not the whole world
…you
Bring Him your heavy load.
Bring Him the place that hurts.
Bring Him what you’re tired of carrying alone.
And hear him whisper:
“I will give you rest.”
This is Advent:
not our strength reaching up to God,
but God’s strength reaching down to us.