What does St. Paul mean by “a thorn in the flesh”? And why would God refuse to remove it?

Paul acknowledges that he is not perfect, that he has weaknesses that are both spiritual (the tendency to become “too elated” (too full of himself?) and material (the thorn in his flesh). Here we have one of the greatest saints, a bold missionary whose influence continues to evangelize, admitting—even boasting about— his weakness. Why? To illustrate that God’s power overcomes all human weakness.

As Pope Francis tells us in Gaudete et Exsultate, holiness is not just for an elite group of super Christians. It is for all of us weak, sinful people. God’s grace is sufficient for us. His power is made perfect in our weakness. 

That’s why we should not be discouraged or lose hope. God’s mercy surrounds us. It lifts us up when we fall and, if we let it, the grace of God gives us everything we need to carry on. 

What does St. Paul mean by “a thorn in the flesh”? And why would God refuse to remove it?

A thorn in the flesh is any appetite or desire or tendency that urges us to do what we know we should not do. Why doesn’t God remove these thorns? He has given us the gift of freedom and the grace to resist temptation by surrendering our will to him in order that the power of Christ may dwell with us. For when we’re weak, then we are strong. 

A reading from the second 
Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians12:7-10

Brothers and sisters: That I, Paul, might not become too elated, because of the abundance of the revelations, 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.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong. 

Religious freedom is not optional

“Religious freedom is the freedom to think, act, and shape one’s life according to one’s faith or religious beliefs without fear of sanction or pressure from government authority. It is a fundamental human right, derived from the inviolable dignity of the human person and also guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America. Religious freedom includes, but is much more than, the freedom to worship.” (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)

The Church in the United States observed Religious Freedom Week from June 22 to June 29. Religious freedom is a serious issue that must be addressed whether or not it’s comfortable or convenient. Why? Because threats against religious liberty challenge our most fundamental identity as Catholics and as Americans.

What do we mean by “religious freedom”? The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) describes it as “the freedom to think, act, and shape one’s life according to one’s faith or religious beliefs without fear of sanction or pressure from government authority.”

We believe that freedom of religion is a fundamental human right that has its source in the inviolable dignity of the human person (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2104–2109, and the Second Vatican Council’s “Dignitatis Humanae” (“Declaration on Religious Freedom”). As Indianapolis Archbishop Charles C. Thompson notes in his pastoral letter, “We Are One in Christ: A Pastoral Letter To the Clergy, Religious and Faithful People of Central and Southern Indiana On Fundamentals of Christian Anthropology,” “We consider the dignity of the individual human person to be the fundamental principle of all Catholic social teaching.”

Religious liberty is also guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America. It is an American value as well as a universal human right. And as the bishops have repeatedly said, “religious freedom includes, but is much more than, the freedom to worship.” We Catholics believe it is a serious mistake to reduce religious freedom to something private or lived out only within a worshiping community one day a week. Religion is deeply personal, but it is not private. It influences how we think, speak and act—both as members of a community of faith (the Church) and as citizens of this great nation (the United States).

Religious freedom embraces both institutions and individuals. The history of Catholicism in the United States is the story of pioneering individuals and courageous communities who built churches, schools, hospitals and service agencies that are unparalleled in their service to their local communities and to our nation. To suggest that religious freedom only applies to congregations’ Sunday worship is to misunderstand totally the extensive impact of religious life and commitment on every aspect of American life.

Our Church serves people from all walks of life because we are Catholic, not because they are. That’s an integral part of our identity as Catholics. We are open to all.

In his apostolic exhortation “Gaudete et Exsultate” (“Rejoice and Be Glad: On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World”), Pope Francis refers to what he calls “the great criterion” (#95; Mt 25:31-46). If we take Jesus’ words seriously, there’s no way we can restrict our faith to our interior life. “I was hungry and you gave me food,” the Lord says. “I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.” These words compel us to go out among our neighbors—especially the poor and vulnerable—to minister to them in very public ways.

We are commanded to love God and to love our neighbor. Laws that protect our freedom to comply with one of these commands but not the other are unacceptable. Indeed, they must be rejected. All—not just some—of our religious institutions share equally in the God-given right to think, act, and shape our religious beliefs without fear of sanction or pressure from governmental authority.

As Americans, we believe that one of the reasons our government exists is to ensure that religious freedom is safeguarded for both institutions and individuals. We take our religious freedom seriously, and we call on all local, state and federal officials to make sure that religious liberty remains an integral part of our American way of life.

Our national celebration of Independence Day on July 4 carries forward the themes of Religious Freedom Week. Let’s thank God for the gift of religious liberty. May we never forget those who fought and died for this freedom. May their sacrifices never be forgotten.

—Daniel Conway

I first came to know God, and to believe in his love for me, through the faith of my parents. They were devout Catholics who suffered many troubles but who never let go of their faith. 

As an adult, I had to take the precious gift of my parents’ faith and make it my own. It wasn’t easy. Doubts and the cynicism of our age crept in and tried to minimize (or dismiss completely) the belief I grew up with. 

By the grace of God, I was surrounded by men and women—including my wife, Sharon—who took their faith seriously. I wanted what they had: the serenity, courage and wisdom to face the storms of life with an unshakable inmost calm. I assume they all had doubts at one time or another, but their faith prevailed. It assured them that they were loved and respected by a generous and merciful God, that good always overcomes evil in the end, and that our lives have meaning. 

How could I remain stuck in my unbelief when so many people I love and cherish are witnesses to the power of faith? How could I deny the miracles happening all around me? How could I maintain doubts that are so clearly without substance?

God touched me through the many men and women who have inspired me through their profound faith. Yes, I still have moments of doubt, but they quickly pass away if I can maintain a sharp focus on the everyday saints who surround me and share with me their experience, strength and hope. 

God’s speaking to us reaches us through men and women who have listened to God and come into contact with God; through men and women for whom God has become an actual experience and who, as it were, know him at first hand…. (Pope Benedict XVI)

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI greets an old friend, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin

It’s hard to imagine any topic that is more misunderstood or maligned than authority in the Church, especially papal authority. Catholics disagree among themselves. Protestants reject the traditional teaching out of hand, and other faiths (and people of no faith) are curious and skeptical at best. 

Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) has given much thought to the question of authority in the Church. He has written about this topic extensively with his characteristically clear and lucid prose. Here is an example:

The ecclesiastical teaching office, and ministry in the Church in general, is not the kind of “leadership” exercised by an enlightened ruler who is confident that he posses a better faculty of reason and translates it into ordinances, while counting on the obedience of his subordinates, who have to accept his reason and it’s decisions as their divinely willed standard. Nor does the hierarchical ministry correspond to a democratic authority in which the individuals delegate their political will to representatives and thereby declare their agreement that the majority will should be the law. 

If Church authority is neither autocratic nor democratic, how should it be exercised? What is the nature of the authority exercised by the pope and the bishops in communion with him?

I think two words define authority in the Church: service and truth. In the Gospels Jesus makes it clear that his disciples are to serve rather than be served. This is true for all Christians, but it is especially important for the apostles and their successors and all those who have leadership responsibilities in the Church. The greatest among us is the one who is totally dedicated to serving the needs of others.

The other word that defines authority in the Church is “truth.” The search for objective truth (the way things really are) begins with God’s Word revealed to us in sacred scripture and handed down to us from our mothers and fathers in faith (the Judeo-Christian tradition). Because even the devil can quote the Bible and twist it’s meaning to his own ends, we need an authoritative guide to the authentic interpretation of God’s revelation of self to us. The apostles (led by Peter) and their successors (led by the pope) are the only reliable guides to understanding the mysteries revealed to us through sacred scripture and traditional Church teaching. Not everyone believes this, but what is the alternative? Individual interpretation? Group consensus?

I for one choose to believe that the Bible is divinely inspired and that the pope and the bishops are the only ones who are authorized to interpret its meaning for us in definitive ways. Does this mean that the successors of Peter and the apostles are perfect? No. But it does mean that the Holy Spirit uses them—in spite of their blindness and their sins—to teach the truth as servants of God’s people.

It truly requires a leap of faith to arrive at this view of authority in the Church. Agnosticism, scepticism and outright rejection are common responses. But in the end, this understanding of Church authority must prevail because it is the only viewpoint that does not lead to complete chaos and confusion.

Service is the key. Any Church leader who is haughty, rigid or self-seeking will fail miserably in the effort to speak the truth. Humility, trustworthiness and courage are required. The two men in the photograph above, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Newark Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, are men who possess these qualities (along with Pope Francis and many other bishops). If we look to them, follow their example and their teaching, we will discover the truth about ourselves and the world we live in.

May God bless all who exercised authority in the Church. May they always serve others while seeking the truth in love.

The call to unity
TFM #37
Publication date: June 2018
Source: Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and be Glad): On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World by Pope Francis

The Face of Mercy

By

Daniel Conway

Pope Francis: Critic and Comforter

Now the real goal is…an increase in the real presence of the Gospel in the Church and the world. Concretely, I would sum up this goal under three headings: to inform, to correct, and to promote (Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI).

When the pope speaks, whether officially or off-the-cuff, he speaks with and for Christ the head of the Church. The same can be said for all bishops who are successors of the apostles, and who are responsible—first and foremost—for the pastoral governance of their dioceses but who, when united with the Bishop of Rome and with each other, also share responsibility for the Universal Church.

Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) has written insightfully about the teaching role of the pope and bishops. He concludes that there is (or should be) no tension between the pope as the Vicar of Christ and the bishops as the successors of the apostles. The teaching authority of the pope was one of the main subjects of the First Vatican Council. The role of the bishops was a major topic in the Second Vatican Council. Together, teaching in a collegial manner that does not in any way diminish the pope’s primacy, the bishops can speak forcefully, and in unison, about faith and morals and about the major questions of our time.

In his recent apostolic exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and Be Glad), Pope Francis fulfills the three functions that his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, says are fundamental to a bishop’s teaching ministry: to inform, to correct and to promote.

Information does not simply mean the communication of data. It means, above all, the formation of conscience. Every Christian is required to act according to an informed conscience.  The teaching authority of the Church cannot impose its doctrine on anyone, but it can, and must, propose its understanding of the truth to all believers and to the whole world. The following is an example of Pope Francis’s efforts to inform consciences:

Our defense of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development. Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection. (Gaudete et Exsultate, #101).

Here the pope seeks to help us see the essential connections between dogma (right thinking) and praxis (right acting). Anyone who loves life must defend all human life against all forms of injustice and inequality.

But Gaudete et Exsultate also contains examples of the pope’s efforts to correct the kind of distorted thinking that leads to serious errors. In fact, the Holy Father uses this apostolic exhortation to challenge those whom he considers “subtle enemies of holiness” to cast off their “narcissistic and authoritarian elitism” and embrace a more open, loving and forgiving attitude toward the struggles of ordinary people who seek to follow Jesus in spite of their weakness, selfishness and sin.

When somebody has an answer for every question, it is a sign that they are not on the right road,” the pope says. Someone who wants everything to be clear and sure presumes to control God’s transcendence (Gaudete et Exsultate, #41).

Pope Francis has been accused of being intolerant of those who disagree with him, but in fact he is simply exercising his apostolic duty as a shepherd to rebuke those who he believes are endangering his flock by leading them astray. What Pope Benedict XVI called “the prophetic ministry of rebuking” is essential to the Church’s teaching ministry because it allows the pope and the bishops to speak forcefully and in unison about the most controversial issues of our time.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly today, Pope Francis actively promotes the Gospel of joy. He makes it very clear that holiness is not something that only a saint can achieve. All are called to experience joy, and all have the potential—aided by God’s grace—to become holy.

No one should be discouraged. God loves us as we are even as he calls us to be better.

# # #

On June 2, 1919, my maternal grandparents, Anna May Bernet and William Daniel Callaghan, were married in Cleveland, Ohio.

When I was about 15 years old, my mother told me that her parents had had a difficult marriage and had considered divorce. She said that, in the end, they chose to stay together and that they were a comfort to each other in their old age. 

Divorce is so common today (half of all marriages) that we rarely think of the sacrifices involved in staying together when times are tough. I know that my grandparents were both independent, strong-willed people. Both were victims of alcoholism, which is a family disease, and both struggled to surrender and accept God’s will in their lives. My mother believed they were successful in the end. 

It’s been more than 50 years since my grandparents passed away. (Today, I am as old as my grandfather was when he died.) I admire them and miss them more than ever now because I recognize the power of their love. Staying together took courage, patience and blind faith. They were far from being perfect people, but they were good to each other and to their family. 

Happy 99th Anniversary, Anna May and Bill! Your love lives on in your family and in the witness you continue to give to all of us. 

Pope Francis draws from 11 nations, names new cardinals

On Friday, June 29, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Francis will elevate 14 Church leaders from 11 diverse nationsincluding Iraq, Spain, Italy, Poland, Pakistan, Portugal, Peru, Madagascar, Japan, Mexico and Bolivia to the College of Cardinals. The pope’s choices confirm his commitment to broaden the base of those who will elect his successor and, in so doing, more closely reflect the universality of the Roman Catholic Church.

Pope Francis is following—and expanding—a tradition that began in the 12th Century when the first Cardinals were selected from outside Rome. Prior to this, all Cardinals were local prelates who served the Church of Rome. Even today, regardless of where they live, all Cardinals are given titular assignments within the Diocese of Rome as a sign of their participation in the pope’s pastoral care for his diocese. (Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, for example, was given the Roman parish of Santa Maria delleGrazie al Trionfale as his titular church.)  

The profession of faith and oath of fidelity professed by new cardinals binds them in obedience to the successor of St. Peter and commits them “always to remain in communion with the Catholic Church.” So, while each Cardinal has a special relationship to the Bishop of Rome and his local Church, there is a clear sense that a Cardinal’s responsibility is to help the pope in his ministry to the worldwide Catholic community, the Church Universal. That’s one important reason why Pope Francis is looking for Cardinals whose perspective is not narrowly limited by the points of view of established regions or cultures.

In the process, some dioceses that have traditionally been led by Cardinals—for example Venice and Milan in Italy or Baltimore and Philadelphia in the United States—are not represented among the dioceses chosen as the residence of one who will elect the next pope. This should not be seen as a commentary on the diocese or its current bishop. It’s simply the pope’s way of reaching out to local churches that are historically and culturally distant (for example, Iraq and Pakistan, Japan and Madagascar) to include them in his governance of the Universal Church.

The Church’s Code of Canon Law (Can 351.1) proscribes that “those to be promoted Cardinals are freely selected by the Roman Pontiff who are at least in the order of priesthood and are truly outstanding for doctrine, virtue, piety and prudence in practical matters; those who are not already bishops must receive Episcopal consecration.” Church history shows that these norms have not always been strictly observed and that some Cardinals have abused their authority preferring immense wealth, worldly pleasure and political power to the humble service that “doctrine, virtue, piety and prudence in practical matters” demands. This may in and of itself be a good reason to diversify membership in the College of Cardinals—to help ensure that no one who wears the red hat or the cardinal’s ring is tempted to feel entitled to special privilege as a Prince of the Church.

Three of the pope’s nominees, Archbishop Sergio Obeso Rivera, the retired Archbishop of Xalapa, Mexico; Bishop ToribioTicona Poro, retired prelate of Corocoro, Bolivia; and Spanish Claretian Father Aquilino Bocos Merino, are over the age limit and will not be permitted to vote for the next pope. Their selection as Cardinals is the pope’s way of honoring them and recognizing their distinguished service to the Church.      

When the 14 new Cardinals are invested on June 29, the College of Cardinals will have expanded beyond the limit of 120 established by Blessed Pope Paul VI to 125. Other popes have exceeded this limit over the years without feeling the need to change the acceptable number formally, but it’s interesting to note that in just five years, Pope Francis has appointed nearly half the number of Cardinals (59 who are currently under the voting age limit of 80) who presumably will elect his successor. This means that the current pope’s style and influence will almost certainly be a factor in the selection of the new pope.  

Let’s pray for Pope Francis and for all those chosen by him to join the College of Cardinals. Their ministry serves both the Church of Rome and the Universal Church in continuity with St. Peter and all the apostles appointed by our Lord to guide and direct the People of God as good shepherds and humble servants. May they carry out their new responsibilities as responsible stewards of the mysteries of God.

Daniel Conway