“A Thorn in our Body, Mind and Soul”
In one of my favorite verses in the Bible is in St. Paul’s writing to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 10:7-10. What he shared to this small community almost two millennials before can continue to speak to us today in our own lives. Here is what he wrote:
“And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
St. Paul had shared a challenge in his life, which we do not know what had happened (e.g., a physical malady?, mental illness?, spiritual problems?) to himself but he repeatedly asked God to take that pain away from himself. However, every one of us has some sort of a thorn in our body, our mind our soul which we cannot “fix it” by ourselves. And, how can we ask God with these types of suffering?
Well let’s take these same words from St. Paul in our prayer, and praise God as He spoke back to Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Also, can you, too, like Paul, realize that your suffering, thorns, and pain make us powerful (“I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities”)? Call that a gut check in our lives!
While we concluded our Triduum—Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and now continue to celebrate Easter itself, we must remember that we are sinful, and we are sick, just like Jesus taught us. Listen again in Mark 2:17: “And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.’”
The paradox of Easter is that Jesus Christ did destroy all thorns forever and “the power of Christ may rest upon [YOU]”!
At the same time, what do you believe about yourself? Are you “well…[with] no need of a physician”? If so, why are you really at Easter? Simply for bunnies, eggs, and Peeps, your family or checking a box off for your time at Church?
If so, I will challenge, invite and witness that we Christians do believethat we are sinful, we are sick, and we do need a savior, a physician for our souls who said: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
May we praise God for the best gift for all eternity, that He sent His son who carried all thorns, both physically and spiritually during his passion and death, and then beat the game of evil and sin to receive victory with his RESURRECTION! He leaves with us that when we are weak, we may be strong on earth with our faith for him, and continue to walk together in our journey towards heaven.
Happy Easter and know that you are always welcome in God’s house at St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Columban parishes!
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