Catholic Outlook Magazine | Advent | Summer 2022 Issue

Looking Deeper
How is vulnerability a strength? Alison Ryan
looks at the lessons we can learn about
vulnerability at Christmas.
I wonder…What is the first thought that comes to
your mind when think about being vulnerable or
vulnerability? Maybe it surprises you to think of God
and vulnerability? I’m sure for some, the first thought
that comes mind regarding the word ‘vulnerability’
is ‘weakness’.
We are so conditioned to equate the two, to say that
being ‘vulnerable’, being open about who we are
and where we’re at in our lives, is the same as being
weak. But I want to suggest that this idea is not true.
That in a strange way, vulnerability is strength.
Not long ago, I was giving a talk to a young adults
group. I shared a part of my story with them, a
part of my story that was deeply painful for me.
It still stirs up feelings of hurt and worthlessness
and shame. After I shared my story, I asked the
group if they thought that I was weak for sharing
it with them. They all shook their heads. I asked
how they would describe what I had done. A few of
them said it was “powerful”, it showed “strength”,
it was “courageous”.
Now frankly, I didn’t feel strong. Instead, I felt
vulnerable. But that’s not what they saw. Maybe
when you have heard a friend share their story,
you’ve had that same reaction.
How often do we see vulnerability as courage in
someone else, but weakness in ourselves?
We need to change our thinking on this, because
being vulnerable is central to our lives as Christians.
Being vulnerable is how Jesus lived.
There are many examples in the gospels of how Jesus
lived his life with great vulnerability, but the beginning
and end of his earthly life stand out really strongly.
God could have come into the world as a mighty
military leader. There were plenty of them around at
the time. Or maybe, as a King like Herod or Caesar.
God could have entered our world in any way. He
didn’t. Instead, God became just like us. God chose
to enter human history as a tiny baby, about as
vulnerable as you can get.
And then we look to the cross. As Christians, the
Crucifixion is the greatest and most powerful thing
that has ever happened. Our God willingly gave up
His life, for the sake of the whole world. How did this
amazing act of strength happen?
Jesus…hanging, naked, on a cross…dying.
If you struggle with the concept of vulnerability as
strength, you are not alone. This is a big, upsidedown
idea and even sounds contradictory to so
much of what we think we know about the world.
In the Second Letter to the Corinthians, St Paul
tells us something about his prayer life. He’d been
struggling with a particular affliction and tells us what
God revealed to him:
…but God said to me,
‘My grace is sufficient for you,
for strength is made perfect
in weakness’.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NRSV)
Then St Paul goes on to say: “So, I will boast all the
more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power
of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content
with weaknesses, for whenever I am weak, then I am
strong.”
Living your life vulnerably isn’t smooth sailing.
Vulnerability is at the core of some very difficult
emotions that we all experience: fear, anxiety,
shame. But vulnerability is also the birthplace of joy,
love, creativity, belonging, and faith. You have to
be vulnerable to have faith, to be able to step into
something that there is no proof for. To be willing to
risk that people won’t get it when you tell them what
you believe - that’s true vulnerability.
Alison Ryan is a parishioner at St Anthony of Padua Parish,
Toongabbie, and is a member of the Mission Enhancement
Team in the Diocese of Parramatta.
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