Blessed weakness

«I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want» (Rom 7:19). Here is our limit, the historical human impotence, which can turn into “personal sin”: injustice, malice, covetousness, envy, fraud, slander, pride, murder (Rom 1:28-31). Human fragility must also contend with two external giants that condition our conscience: the culture in which we are immersed, which is not Christian (and never truly has been) and influences us even if we do not realize it, and the political and economic ideology of the time, which for reasons of State or economic interest considers good what is evil. “Structures of sin”, Cardinal Martini used to call them. Their poisoned fruit is the current mainstream of performance, of compulsive gain, of power, which risks suffocating or making the Christian aspiration even more impotent. And so we are attacked not only by our internal evils («From within people’s hearts come evil intentions...», Mk 7:21-23), but by the evil of what the Gospel calls the “world”.

Life in Christ is the opposite of “performance”: it is making the experience of the limit internal and ever-present. «Blessed is the man who knows his weakness. This knowledge will be for him a foundation and a principle», says Isaac the Syrian, a 7th-century Qatari monk and a very fine observer of inner movements. Entry into Christian life is precisely this: looking our weakness in the face, recognizing and giving their true name to the passions that pass through us, without masking them and seeking an alibi that does not blur the image we want to have (and give) of ourselves. The real evil is not evil: it is the refusal to see it, it is covering it up hypocritically; when instead it is the first brick of the spiritual building we are called to construct within ourselves. Living in the world as children and siblings is possible; a serious Christian path is possible. But only if we welcome our limit.

The Lord waits for us there. The limit is the border where the human can cry out for help and let itself be touched by the divine. Where there is struggle and therefore the presence of a passion, says Isaac, right there is the presence of the Lord. «As long as we bear the image of Adam, it is necessary that we also have his passions». “Necessary”, yes: because passions are “powers” placed in humanity by God Himself «to aid the growth of soul and body», to help it descend to a deeper inner level, where “the wisdom of the Spirit” is acquired and one experiences “providence”: of God's help and His gifts “measured to the temptations”.

The limit therefore is the great opportunity that the Lord offers us: the person who has reached the knowledge of their own weakness touches the bottom of humility, the only thing that allows them to live «well before God, without anxiety»: indeed, «just as the shadow follows bodies, so mercy follows humility». Without anxiety: with no more fear of death and of the small daily deaths of insignificance, of smallness, of humiliation. Of the limit.

The Christian knows that Christ said only to the thief: «Today you will be with me in Paradise». The thief remains a thief, remains a sinner. But with the Lord beside him, he can finally look his sin in the face and embrace his blessed weakness. His holy limit, the evil recognized and forgiven that opens the doors to the infinite freedom of the Spirit.

Flaminia Morandi
NP March 2026