From human weakness to greatness

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THAT’S what can come to mind as we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Peter and Paul on June 29. They were men with their share of human weaknesses and imperfections and yet they became the pillars and foundational columns of the Church.

We all know how St. Peter was. He denied Christ three times. He received from Christ that most severe and corrective rebuke, “Get behind me, Satan” (Mt 16,23) when he tried to prevent Christ from fulfilling his redemptive mission of offering his life on the cross.

St. Paul was hardly any different. Before his conversion, he aggressively attacked the early Christians. And even after conversion, he continued to be hounded by his weaknesses that at one point, to prevent him from being conceited, he was given a “thorn in the flesh.” (cfr. 2 Cor 12,7)

But what made them great was their faith in Christ and in the power of grace that always triumphs whatever human frailty they had. St. Paul articulated this when he said: “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” (Rom 5,20)

The lesson to learn here is for us to know how to convert our weaknesses into the occasion to grow in strength. And the secret is to assume the identity of Christ and his attitude toward all forms of human weaknesses and limitations. He himself assumed our human weaknesses even to the extent of making himself like sin without committing sin, if only to save us from our fatal predicament. (cfr. 2 Cor 5,21)

If we would just open ourselves to the possibility of taking that leap of faith to become like Christ who gives us all the means to be so, what may appear to us as an impossibility due to our weakness and limitations can become possible.

We should make St. Paul’s words, “For when I am weak, then I am strong,” (2 Cor 12,10) also as our own, and feel reassured and consoled every time we are hounded and burdened by all sorts of difficulties and troubles, including when we are tempted and fall into sin.

We have to know what exactly St. Paul meant by those words. What we can readily see is that he made all these predicaments a reason for him to go to Christ, to identify himself more closely with Christ who went all the way to making himself like sin without committing sin just to save us. (cfr. 2 Cor 5,21)

We have to learn how to react to all these negative and evil elements in our life from the point of view of our Christian faith, and never just from our own estimation of things that would often lead us to be scandalized, to feel bad and discouraged, and to run away from the one who can resolve everything for us, including those problems we cannot anymore resolve.

Our faith in God can still work and function even if we are down spiritually and morally, because it is, first of all, a gift from God who will always give it to us irrespective of how we have been behaving. We should just try our best to receive it and to correspond to it as best that we can.

We need to trust in God’s providence and mercy. We have to learn to live a spirit of abandonment in the hands of God. Yes, if we have faith in God, in his wisdom and mercy, in his unfailing love for us, we know that everything will always work out for the good. (cfr. Rom 8,28) Our weaknesses can be the gateway for our greatness, the greatness of the children of God!

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com