Scripture:
Ezekiel 2:2-5
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Mark 6:1-6a
Reflection:
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. -2 Coriinthians 12:8-10)
There are winners and losers in this world, and you, you are…
OATS (Openness, Awareness, Togetherness and Separateness) a prayer group I was part of, had been planning a CLAM digging (digging for CHRISTIAN LIVING AMONG MEN) camping weekend for months and we had finally made it up to the entrance of the campgrounds. We arrived late in the evening. The ranger at the park met us at the entrance of the grounds and asked us to be quiet in setting up our site. He explained there were groups already bedded down for the night and our site was on top of a hill which would broadcast any noise we made throughout the whole camp.
We drove up to our site, quietly set up our tents, built a fire and sat down for a bite to eat starting our time together with sharing a prayer of gratitude for our safe arrival and the many gifts we have been given. Finally, we had completed the first day of our time together. I was tired, so I didn’t stay up much longer, but chose to go to my tent and get some sleep. I fell asleep immediately upon hitting the ground. I woke up to a bunch of loud singing of folk songs I knew too well. That was our group. I came out of my tent, walked over to the campfire and at the top of my voice delivered a speech that would live on in infamy, or at least that this group of clamdiggers would never let me forget: “There are winners and there are losers in this world.” and with one sweep of my arm finished with: “And you are all losers.” Then I went back into my tent.
Today, fifty plus years later, I and several of the members on that weekend can still laugh about that disaster. Today, I realize, life is not about placing blame, a weakness I still grapple with fifty years later. If is as St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthians, about learning or digging to hear what God is telling me in dealing with the many gifts, or fellow clamdiggers in my life. God, help me accept my weaknesses, my limitations, and realize that You are in charge and that all will be ok. Help me further realize The Good News that I (we) are loved and we can love one another, one day at a time.
Dan O’Donnell is a Passionist Partner and a longtime friend of the Passionists. He lives in Chicago.