by Fr. Rich Andre, C.S.P.
July 6, 2021

Paulist Fr. Rich Andre preached this homily on July 4, 2021 on the 14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) at St. Austin Parish in Austin, TX. The homily is based on the day’s readings: Ezekiel 2:2-5; Psalm 123; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; and Mark 6:1-6.

Today’s homily will focus on our second reading about Paul’s mysterious “thorn in the flesh.” But I’d better say something now about our fascinating gospel passage, because it brings up at least two perplexing questions.

Question #1: Did Jesus have brothers and sisters? The people in Nazareth say that he did, but we Catholics say no. Either the terms “brothers” and “sisters” refer to other relatives of Jesus, such as his cousins, or Joseph had children from a previous marriage.

Question #2: Why doesn’t Jesus perform mighty deeds in his hometown? Look back through what’s already happened in Mark. Jesus never offers a healing unless someone expresses belief in his message, be it Simon’s mother-in-law, the paralytic lowered through the roof, or Jairus’ daughter. The woman with the hemorrhage was healed after she literally “reached out” to Jesus.

The main point today is that God works through the unexpected. Today’s homily will concentrate on Paul’s account of how he found meaning in the afflictions he suffered.

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Pain is part of the human condition. As we age, our bodies acquire some wear and tear. We get sick. Jobs and relationships don’t turn out as we wish. Loved ones drift away, move, or die. A lot of us think that we can avoid the pain by numbing ourselves with alcohol, drugs, or other addictions. But addictions don’t remove the pain. To be human is to experience pain. We know this truth, but we try to resist it. We live in a culture that insists that if we have enough money, enough fame, and enough sex, we won’t have any pain. Other people promote a simplistic spirituality that says if we pray enough, we won’t have any pain.

But pain is not the same thing as suffering. Suffering is the result of trying to resist pain. Psychologists sometimes use an equation to explain it: 

PAIN) x (RESISTANCE) = SUFFERING¹

We often have no control over the amount of pain that we experience, but we do have control over how much we resist the pain. The more we resist, the more we suffer. For those of you who like equations, I offer a second one:

RESISTANCE = (WHAT YOU WANT) – (WHAT YOU HAVE)

We often can’t change what we have, but we can always modify what we want. This probably sounds counterintuitive to many of us. Don’t we want to strive for a better life, and not settle for what we have? That’s fine, as long as our expectations are reasonable. It’s one thing for me to aspire to get an education, to improve a marriage, to get a better job, or to live a healthier lifestyle. But if I think the only way that I can be happy is to have an IQ over 200, to never argue with my spouse, to be a billionaire, or to look like a supermodel, I will suffer. A lot. 

Resistance equals what you want minus what you have. The most remarkable part of today’s gospel is how much the people in Nazareth resisted Jesus’ message of good news, because they thought that he was just an ordinary carpenter! It’s like God told Ezekiel: whether the people heed the words I give you, or if they resist them, it doesn’t change the truth of those words.

Many people with addictions find that 12-step groups provide a spiritual way to reduce their resistance to pain. By sharing their pain with one another, recovering addicts learn to better align their expectations with what’s realistic, thus lowering their suffering. As I preached last week, God has made us interdependent on one another, in order to help bear one another’s burdens.

Paul offers a lot of great theology in his Second Letter to the Corinthians, but it can be a frustrating letter to read. Paul never explains the specifics of the circumstances that led to his insights. For nearly 2,000 years, Christians have speculated in particular about Paul’s “thorn in the flesh.” Perhaps it was a physical illness. Or a personality quirk. Or someone who annoyed him. The truth is, we have no idea what the thorn was. It’s not clear whether God gave it to him, or if it came from another source. The main point is that Paul – who had received extraordinary revelations from God – could not find a way to avoid its pain. 

The wisdom of spiritual maturity is not to avoid pain, but to acknowledge it. Jesus, Mary, and the saints all knew pain but accepted and embraced it. All of us know people who have lost a loved one in tragic circumstances or who have to live with a severe disability, but still seem relatively happy. At first, they suffered tremendously, but then they accepted “the new normal.” They acknowledged that no amount of effort was going to bring back their loved one or their lost limb. 

So, what should we do when find ourselves fixating on unrealistic expectations? We should pray about it. If God doesn’t remove the pain, and if God doesn’t reveal why we must endure the pain, then we need to ask God for the gift of acceptance of the pain. Maybe “acceptance” isn’t a strong enough a word for the grace we need. The Contemplative Outreach network suggests that the process for contemplating our pain should be called “welcoming prayer.” That is, we need to consent to God’s presence and action in our lives, no matter what pain such consent may lead to. ²

A good example of this contradictory grace of welcoming our pain to relieve our suffering comes from the journal of Etty Hillesum, an effervescent Jewish woman in her late 20s in Nazi-occupied Europe. [EN] Shortly before being forced onto a train to Auschwitz, where she would die 3 months later, she wrote in her journal: “God take me by Your hand, I shall follow You faithfully, and not resist too much… I shall try to face it all as best I can…. I shall try to spread some of my warmth, of my genuine love for others, wherever I go.”³

As Paul eventually had the grace to conclude, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” May we each have the grace to reach a similar level of spiritual insight, and may enough of us receive that insight to transfigure the human community worldwide!

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Notes: