“The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan.” (Mark 1:12-13)
February 26, 2012
First Sunday of Lent
Mark 1:12-15 Reading Here
Fr. Robert deLeon, CSC
The dull thump resounded when my fleeting bare foot made swift contact with the wooden bedpost. Knowing I had but a millisecond before the searing pain registered, I braced myself. And, indeed, once the foot-to-brain circuit was complete – Wow, did it hurt! Just like those times I did the very same thing with misalignment of hammer and nail, a bruised thumbnail memorial to my lack of agility.
As often as I’ve smashed a toe or thumb, though, I’ve never given up the dearly held hope that maybe next time – just this once – the dumb action won’t be followed by a painful consequence. But it’s never yet happened, and probably never will. Yet I hope against reason. Hope against the laws of nature.
Suffering, though, has little to do with a stubbed toe or blackened thumbnail. Suffering is another consideration completely, though it is closely linked with pain. Simple lack of coordination or inattention often leads to those common generic mishaps that hurt like the dickens. That’s pain, for sure! But is it suffering? I don’t think so.
Suffering, like pain, is an inescapable part of the human condition, and, while loosely connected to the time-limited physical pain of a bruised toe or throbbing thumb, it is a whole-person experience. That is, suffering is a dis-ease that encompasses body, mind and soul, and is more commonly a long-term event; the accompanying physical pain (if there be any) is often short-term and manageable.
Of course, while we know well that our homeward journey will inevitably take us through the dark valley of pain and suffering, we try our hardest to avoid it, outsmart it and, in the end, deny it. It may be hard to imagine, then, that some people actually choose to inflict pain upon themselves.
In a book entitled “The Tender Cut: Inside the World of Self-Injury," ethnographer authors Patricia and Peter Adler address a little discussed topic. I quote a brief excerpt:
“For the last 10 years we have been studying self-injury: the deliberate, non-suicidal destruction of one’s own body tissue, such as self-cutting, burning, branding, scratching, picking at skin, re-opening wounds, biting, head-banging, hair-pulling, self-hitting, swallowing or embedding objects, breaking bones or teeth, tearing or severely biting cuticles or nails, and chewing the inside of the mouth.
“Self-injury is recognized today as offering a short-term release from anxiety, depersonalization, rapidly fluctuating emotions and relief from feelings of depression, loneliness, loss, and alienation. It represents an emotion regulation strategy providing a sense of control, converting unbearable emotional pain into manageable physical pain.
“The psycho-medical community offers many solutions to people looking for help in dealing with their self-injury. Outpatient therapy, drugs and specialized clinics are available. In addition, support groups have sprung up on the Internet where self-injurers can find understanding, advice, social and personal acceptance, and community. They provide an outlet from the pain of inner isolation, social rejection, and the struggle of daily living until better ways of resolving life’s struggles can be forged.” (CNN.com Blogs, August 23, 2011)
Self-injury is probably not a topic for polite conversation. Nor a topic a preacher ought to address before a respectable congregation. Not even something we’d want to consider privately, so abhorrent is the very idea. Yet it’s a frequent theme in the teachings of Jesus, a common thread in his encounters with the religious leaders of his day. I speak here specifically of spiritual self-injury: those intentional slashes and gashes we inflict upon our souls and psyches as we make choices that provide but a moment of gratification before the inevitable searing pain sets upon our consciences.
Indeed, physical self-injury is a most terrible affliction, a desperate flight from unmanageable emotional suffering. But it’s not the worst kind of self-injury since it’s self-limiting by one’s life span. What’s worse is the damage we can so easily inflict upon ourselves that does not find relief at the grave. Sin and its consequences: this is a most unpopular topic for a preacher to address in our present Catholic world. But it must be. Why, in my own lifetime, I’ve seen amazing things dragged from dark closets! I’ve also seen formerly acceptable topics consigned to the dark emptiness therein. Sin is one of those things. Satan another. And hell.
The gospel passage we hear today provides, I believe, a context for understanding these dark, unpopular realities we’d rather leave hidden way back in the closet. St. Mark writes, “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan.” (Mark 1:12-13)
Sin, Satan and hell: Jesus knew it all as he thirsted and hungered through those 40 desert days. Tempted to enjoy the gratification that precedes the searing pain of conscience, he avoided it. Confronted by Satan, the embodiment of evil, Jesus resisted his wiles while besting him in argument. And hell: real enough for God to send his Beloved Son to earth to snatch us away from its clutch, its reality cannot be denied. Jesus knows it all so well. Knows well, too, our own struggles with the same, promising his love as faithful companion as we walk life’s perilous paths.
Oh, that millisecond between the dull thump of bare foot against doorpost and the whopping pain that followed, that flash of freedom between thoughtless action and painful consequence! Let us, this Lent, consider the extended millisecond of far greater import – that twinkling interval between choice and consequence that lives even unto eternity.
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