Catholic Commentary on 2 Corinthians 12

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

The Third Heaven

Paul continues his reluctant boasting with an account of a visionary experience fourteen years earlier: he was caught up to the third heaven, to paradise, and heard inexpressible things that humans are not permitted to tell. He will not boast about this except in his weaknesses, so that no one will think more of him than what they see in him or hear from him. Then comes the passage that has been the comfort of the suffering Church in every generation: to keep him from being conceited, he was given a thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment him. Three times he pleaded with the Lord to take it away. The Lord said: My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore Paul will boast all the more gladly about his weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on him. When he is weak, he is strong.

The nature of the thorn has been debated throughout the Church's history: physical illness, spiritual temptation, a persistent enemy, a limitation in speech. Paul does not specify, perhaps deliberately, so that every suffering Christian can identify their own thorn with his. What matters is not what the thorn is but what the Lord says about it: my grace is sufficient. The answer is not removal but sufficiency. Not healing but presence. Not the end of the weakness but power perfected in the weakness. The Catechism cites this as the theological foundation of the Church's understanding of suffering: God does not always remove the cross, but he is always sufficient in the carrying of it (CCC 1508).

Signs of an Apostle

Paul asks the Corinthians to forgive him the wrong he did them by not being a burden to them. He is not looking for what is theirs but for them. He will gladly spend and be spent for them. He is afraid that when he comes he will find quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder. And he mourns over many who have sinned and not repented of the impurity and sexual immorality they have practised. His love for them is the love that cannot be comfortable while they are far from God.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, my grace is sufficient for you. This is the answer God gives to the thorn you have prayed three times to be removed. Not yet. Not like this. But: my grace is sufficient. Receive it. Stop demanding a different answer and begin drawing on the sufficiency that is already given. The power that is perfected in your weakness is waiting to be made visible. Stop hiding the weakness and start glorying in it. Then Christ's power will rest on you.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, your grace is sufficient for us. Your power is made perfect in our weakness. When we plead for the removal of our thorns, let us hear your answer: my grace is sufficient. Make us willing to boast in our weaknesses so that your power may rest on us. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

12
Paul’s Revelation
1 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to gain, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to Paradise. The things he heard were too sacred for words, things that man is not permitted to tell.
Paul’s Thorn and God’s Grace
 
5 I will boast about such a man, but I will not boast about myself, except in my weaknesses. 6 Even if I wanted to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations.
 
So to keep me from becoming conceited,* 12:7 Some translators end the previous paragraph after verse 6, and begin verse 7 with So to keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. 10 That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul’s Concern for the Corinthians
 
11 I have become a fool, but you drove me to it. In fact, you should have commended me, since I am in no way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing. 12 The true marks of an apostle—signs, wonders, and miracles—were performed among you with great perseverance. 13 In what way were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was not a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
 
14 See, I am ready to come to you a third time, and I will not be a burden, because I am not seeking your possessions, but you. For children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 And for the sake of your souls, I will most gladly spend my money and myself. If I love you more, will you love me less?
 
16 Be that as it may, I was not a burden to you; but crafty as I am, I caught you by trickery. 17 Did I exploit you by anyone I sent you? 18 I urged Titus to visit you, and I sent our brother with him. Did Titus exploit you in any way? Did we not walk in the same Spirit and follow in the same footsteps?† 12:18 Literally Did we not walk in the same Spirit? Not in the same footsteps?
 
19 Have you been thinking all along that we were making a defense to you? We speak before God in Christ, and all of this, beloved, is to build you up. 20 For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder. 21 I am afraid that when I come again, my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of their acts of impurity, sexual immorality, and debauchery.

*12:7 12:7 Some translators end the previous paragraph after verse 6, and begin verse 7 with So to keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations,

†12:18 12:18 Literally Did we not walk in the same Spirit? Not in the same footsteps?

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