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In last week’s readings, Ezekiel is told to expect his prophesizing to fail, Paul learns his “thorn in the flesh” must be endured, Jesus is amazed and surely hurt by his neighbors’ rejection of him. Evidently, the spiritual journey entails failures, struggles, suffering.
It is tempting to seek relief in the midst of painful experiences. Yet, the very woundedness we seek to alleviate is often the doorway into a deeper relationship with the Mystery at the Heart of Being. According to Martin Laird, our struggles and failures “open unto the luminous vastness of our depths, where Christ silently presided in the unfolding liturgy of our wounds.”
By way of this “unfolding liturgy of our wounds” we are given rays of hope; we learn to stumble forth in faith, often unknowingly accompanied by Love. While our painful circumstances are not necessarily taken away, the balm of grace helps us deal with them. Eventually we find ourselves changed, healed in a manner that enables us to emerge from periods of failure, struggles and suffering more capable of manifesting Love. Thanks be to God.