Finding Strength and Grace in Weakness

Dear friends on the journey,


When we meet new people at a party, interview for a job, craft a resume, or post on social media, we naturally want to make a good impression, to put our best foot forward, by highlighting our strengths, confidence, accomplishments, and successes, all the good of and in our lives. It is counterintuitive to discuss our weaknesses. In fact, we usually try to hide them. In our current culture, striving for perfection (or even just appearance of), self-reliance, and strength is valued, and we are to hide away weaknesses, failures, and shortcomings.


While there is prudence in knowing when and how much to share of ourselves with certain people and in certain situations, Paul offers a different approach in today’s second reading. In his second letter to the Corinthians. Paul talks about his profound revelations and his persistent “thorn in the flesh.” Despite asking God to remove it, he learns that God’s grace is sufficient and that, in fact, strength is found in his weakness. Paul embraces his weaknesses and hardships, seeing them as places where Christ can dwell and his power to shine, affirming that divine strength is perfected in human weakness. This thorn led Paul to deeper faith.


Ours may be different from Paul’s but we all have thorns, don’t we? Each of us suffers from different things, in different ways, at different stages in our lives. It may be a physical illness or disability. It may be an emotional wound. It may be external from someone or something else. It could be our internal struggle. Whatever we are suffering from, we can certainly identify with Paul’s “thorn of the flesh.”


Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians is a much-needed message for us today. We do not need to be perfect to be loved by God. Our thorns do not keep God away from us. In fact, our thorniness is exactly where God wants to be with us to extend his grace, the only grace that can heal us, refine us and strengthen us. Paul says that by embracing our weaknesses, we allow God’s power to work through us, transforming our challenges into opportunities for more reliance on God, less on ourselves, and a deeper connection with God.


When God’s grace transforms our thorns, it can also become strength for others. We can become a source of light and hope for others. I have seen this firsthand in the creation of ministries like our cancer, divorce, bereavement, caregivers, and chronic pain support groups. These were born from a personal experience of the ministry leaders who wanted to shine a light for others. I have also known parishioners to do this on a one-to- one basis, using their own strength to help another person on a similar journey. 

This is the kind of boasting that Paul encourages us to do.
What can you boast about?


Siempre Adelante,

​
​Teresa Runyon
Pastoral Associate 

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