•Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you. (Ezekiel 2:4)
•We are more than sated with contempt; our souls are more than sated with the mockery of the arrogant, with the contempt of the proud. (Psalm 123:4)
•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. (1 Corinthians 12:10)
•And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” (Mark 6:3,4)

 

•Do Ezekiel, Paul and the Psalmist encounter human weakness?
•How does the spirit overcome this human weakness—by conquering or accepting?
•How does accepting a weakness become strength?

Whoever loves this death can see God because it is true beyond a doubt that man will not see me and live. Let us, then die and enter into the darkness: let us impose silence upon our desires and our imaginings. With Christ crucified let us pass out of this world to the Father so that when the Father is shown to us, we may say with Philip: It is enough for us. Let us hear with Paul: My grace is sufficient for you.
(St. Bonaventure)<sup>1




1</sup>The Soul’s Journey Into God, edited by Ewert Cousins, Paulist Press: Mahwah, New Jersey.