My Grace is Sufficient for You

Priest & MonstranceThere is a very famous verse in today’s first reading for mass that theologians have debated throughout the centuries. It is the verse where Paul says: “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.”

Paul’s “thorn” has baffled theologians throughout the years, but they have come to the conclusion that no one really knows what it was. It could have been a demon that really did physically beat him. It could have been a temptation to sins of the flesh, or that Paul kept losing his temper and couldn’t seem to control it on his own. It could have been a person that continually gave him a hard time. It could have been the guilt that Paul felt over the way he formerly persecuted Christians and was even responsible for Stephan’s death. Maybe he couldn’t get over his guilt. It could have been any number of things. Whatever it was, it was annoying and distracting and it was something Paul couldn’t seem to handle on his own. He kept petitioning Christ to help him. He knew Jesus had the power to do something about it, so why wouldn’t he?

What’s interesting to note about the whole thing, is that Jesus already knew all about it. He allowed it. This thing, whatever it was, was allowed to torment Paul for a reason. It was Christ’s will that it continued to harass Paul and it sounds like Saint Paul had no choice in the matter but to accept it. This is contrary to everything that many Catholics today believe about Jesus today as well. Jesus spent his entire life showing his love and concern for people. He healed them of their illnesses, shattered the persecutions and stigmas that society inflicted on the marginalized members of society, he fed them, forgave people of their sins and healed their souls. Like Saint Paul we may ask Jesus in prayer, why he doesn’t take away our weaknesses, sinful tendencies and aggravating people or circumstances of our lives either? But, maybe Jesus doesn’t do this because he wants us to learn to depend on him instead of ourselves. If Jesus heals these things, then why would we have any further need of him? Also, the weaknesses and sinful tendencies and aggravating circumstances we have in our lives, keep us from having too much pride and becoming overly confident in ourselves. Jesus was perfect but it is not his will that we become absolutely perfect too. Our imperfections actually make us a lot more compassionate with other people sometimes.

The Gospel today might give us a little insight as to why Jesus allows this type of thing to exist in our lives though. The Lord tells us that we can not serve God and money too. He says not to spend our time worrying that we won’t have enough food, clothing or other necessities of life. Worry and anxieties do not help and it will not add a single moment to our life span. (In modern times, stressing over money can even make us sick and shorten our life.) Then Jesus goes on to explain our inherent human dignity and beauty that we have, simply by existing the way God created us. We do not need to earn God’s love. We are beautiful just the way He created us. If you look around at the beauty in all of nature, we are just as beautiful to the Lord. Wildflowers simply exist and are more beautiful than anything mankind has ever made and so are we. It doesn’t matter how attractive or unattractive that we think we are. Jesus sees the inherent beauty in us in a completely different way than society does.

The point of the first reading today and the Gospel as well, is that the Lord’s grace is sufficient for us too. Our lives are temporary and like the grass in the field, we are here today and will be gone tomorrow. It is more important that we depend on Jesus and His Father during our lives than it is to depend on ourselves or to be distracted with the transitory things in life. There’s nothing we can do about them anyway and they will not matter in eternal life. What will matter in the end, is our relationship with God, Jesus and one another. We should keep the big picture in mind and not neglect our relationship with the Lord and one another, out of concern for our temporary needs.

Seek first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things will be given to you as well.

About the Author

Hello! My name is Laura Kazlas. As a child, I was raised in an atheist family, but came to believe in God when I was 12 years old. I was baptized because of the words that I read in the bible. I later became a Catholic because of the Mass. The first time my husband brought me to Mass, I thought it was the most holy, beautiful sense of worshiping God that I had ever experienced. I still do! My husband John and I have been married for 37 years. We have a son, a daughter, and two granddaughters. We are in the process of adopting a three year old little girl. We live in Salem, Oregon in the United States. I currently serve as the program coordinator for Catholic ministry at a local maximum security men's prison. I‘m also a supervisor for Mount Angel Seminary’s field education program, in Oregon.

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4 Comments

  1. Poverty is an integral part of Christianity that many churches do not want to confront. Obviously if people who heard Christ speak simply did as He asked without putting spin on it the Roman Empire would have been destroyed. As Christ was a Jew and the Roman Empire had the Jews under their foot the oppression of the people would be eliminated simply by rendering to Caesar all that is Caesar’s. In other words Christ was instructing the people to give all of their money to Caesar. Chaos would have resulted. With a longer view the various earthly kingdoms would perish if people took ALL THAT THEY HAD and gave it to the poor. What better way to usher in the Kingdom of God than to collapse all of the various kingdoms around the world.
    In more ways than one Christ was also the greatest revolutionary that ever lived. And we can see why. Look what the world did to Christ as well as many others. And keep in mind that it was pagans that actually did the crucifying and pagans that cheered as early Christians were fed to lions, tortured and burned. Ultimately it was Christ’s teachings that destroyed the Roman Empire. It is hard to get soldiers to rape, loot and murder for pay when they become Christians.

  2. You have a very good point there. When soldiers become Christians, it IS a great deal more difficult to kill, steal and sexually assault others. I was a soldier in the US Army for 13 years and after I grew more in my faith, I began to have doubts about the morality of killing other human beings too. War is sometimes justified, but only to prevent a greater evil.

    Jesus said he did not come for peace but division, though. And when Mary and Joseph presented baby Jesus in the temple, Simeon foretold that Jesus would become a sign that would be contradicted. We humans like to think we are in control of things, but I think that God already knows our human nature, and how we are likely to respond to the events in our lives.

  3. Hi I work in a county jail where I see a great need for inmates to receive Holy Communion and to have access to the sacraments. I am a mental health therapist and a devoted Catholic. I believe Jesus put me right smack in the middle of the jail to see the suffering there, to pray for the inmates and to console them when I can. I came across you rather accidentally, when I was seeking to understand more the meaning of “My Grace is sufficient for you”. I feel that there is more for me to do at the jail beyond my role as a therapist there. I just thought I’d share that with you. If you know of any way I could be helpful in bringing the sacraments into the Wisconsin prison system please let me know. Thank you so much. God Bless You.

  4. Yes, go to the DISMAS National Catholic Ministry website that is located in Milwaukee. Get in touch with Ron Zelier, the executive Director. He organizes an annual National Catholic prison conference and can point you in the right direction.

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