Therefore,
that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to
me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.
Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but
he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made
perfect in weakness.”
2 Corinthians 12:7B-9A
“Your
heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the
Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be
given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take
care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.” Matthew
6:32B-34
Piety
Let
us therefore bring our tribute of praise to our Creator
"for
the judgments of His justice" (Ps. 118[119]:164)
at
these times: the
Morning Office, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers
and Compline; and
in the night let us arise to glorify Him.
How
the Work of God is to Be Performed During the Day
Rule
of Saint Benedict, Chapter 16
Study
On
the one hand, Paul has to be about the luckiest man on the face of
the earth (until Lou Gehrig came along). He was a leader and was so
powerful that he could oppress those around him. Then, he gave up
all the power of his former position and took on a new identity –
even a new name – to have a fresh start and a new beginning.
Paul's
gifts quickly put him in a leadership position in the new church to
which he had been one of its main oppressors. Yet, after rising back
to the top, he faced the physical challenges that weakened him, he
faced imprisonment that limited his missionary work, and he felt the
obstacles of other opponents who replaced Saul as the thorn in the
side of the growing church community.
However,
through it all, Paul realizes that any obstacles, imprisonment and
challenges are provided by God as part of his growth. Paul realizes
that there is no “negative component” to how we experience him on
our life. What we see as the negatives are placed there to provide
us with proper perspective. Even when God delivers a
physical limitation or a rival or opponent on the personal level, we
can overcome that.
Jesus
does not deny the reality of human needs – eating, drinking,
providing for our basic needs. However, he warns us against becoming
too anxious about the items on the first step of our needs and to
instead focus on getting to the higher reasons for being.
Action
Paul's
experience works for us on both a personal level and on a missionary
level. None of us are perfect. We have to cope with the limitations
that we have been given. We have to rise above our physical
weaknesses for activating the Daily Tripod in our lives.
These
are easy words to type yet harder to live. All of us have times
(daily) when our faith in Jesus is not
as deep as it should be. We are not alone. We share that human
condition with the saints and the sinners in our lives and in
history. Maybe the lives of those in monastic communities may be an
inspiration. No matter what their assignment – from abbot to
porter to college president-- they break from that work seven times
throughout the day to place themselves in the presence of God. How
much easier it might be when they leave morning prayers or any of the
seven “offices” of the day, to bring that presence with them into
the world. That office is as important as any office to which they
are assigned to do earthly work.
Our
job is to be aware of our thorns and like Paul, rise above them and
recognize that in our weaknesses, Jesus becomes strong. Our job is to
retreat from the office enough that Jesus dwells in us and that we
bring his presence back into the world in our work and His work.
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