Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians dwells repeatedly on the threat of suffering and imminence of death in the apostle’s life and, by extension, in that of the Christian believer.
While complex — and perhaps an amalgamation of several shorter messages — in its present form, it is a letter of consolation that illustrates how the dying and rising of Christ is mysteriously at work in the inner being of each Christian (2 Corinthians 1:3-7).
When Paul was rescued by Christ from almost certain death (1:8-11), he
experienced a foretaste of the victory God would one day give him
through the coming resurrection.
Paul says he once regarded Jesus only “from a human point of view.”
Now, however, after many encounters with the Risen Christ he has
experienced the new way of life that faith makes possible. The only way
to describe this new reality is by such a formula as “a new creation.”
“Everything old,” Paul declared, “has passed away; see everything has
become new” (5:16-17).
This changes not only one’s perception, but one’s behaviour; so that
disciples “might live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died
and was raised for them” (5:14-15).
Paul summed up Jesus’ sympathy for human frailty and incomprehension in
a paradox expressing the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ’s
incarnation: “though He was rich (in divine status), yet for your sakes
He became poor (in entering the human condition), so that by His
poverty you might become rich” (8:9).
Something that has fascinated Christians over the centuries is the
meaning of an affliction Paul referred to near the conclusion of Second
Corinthians (11:16-12:10).
While speaking of mystical graces accorded him by God (“a person in
Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven”), Paul went
on to say that to keep him from being too elated “a thorn was given to
me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me” (12:7).
Commentators have speculated on the nature of Paul’s “thorn in the
flesh.” Identifications of it range from a bodily ailment (epilepsy,
migraine, malaria, ophthalmia, a speech impediment) to something mental
(bouts of depression, an experience of despair) or even spiritual (a
temptation of some kind). Some focus on the term “messenger of Satan”
and surmise Paul meant his persecutors or Christians who regarded him
as a heretic. Whatever it was, the thorn in Paul’s flesh seems to have
begun around the time of his visionary experience and continued up to
the time of his writing this letter. Perhaps he needed to be brought
down to Earth after his “rapture” (12:1-6).
Paul, however, did not see it that way. So, he three times prayed to be
relieved of what humiliated him and seemed to interfere with the
effectiveness of his ministry. The answer to Paul’s prayer taught him
that the same God who had given him the spiritual experience had also
given him the thorn.
Paul knew that many Corinthians — like others in the ancient world and
even some people today — expected their religious leaders to have
visions and revelations, tokens of God’s blessing. With this
expectation, the Corinthians probably did not think visionaries would
also be humbled by some affliction, an experience that we may
characterize as the shame of the Cross.
Paul received his vision and revelations in the third or highest
heaven, sometimes called Paradise. Paul did nothing to bring about such
a mystical experience. Rather, it was given him by God. Nor would Paul
permit himself to speak boastfully about it. For he had “heard things
that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat” (12:4).
Paul’s mystical journey came about entirely by God’s grace. Remarkably,
the thorn in his flesh occasioned another revelation. In reply to
Paul’s prayer, “the Lord” — doubtless this refers to Jesus — taught
Paul a profound lesson, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is
made perfect in weakness” (12:8-9).
Paul could have learned many lessons from suffering: that, borne
patiently, suffering produces strength of character or that within
oneself one may find inner resources to endure those afflictions that
come with life. Instead, however, Paul was invited to look beyond
himself and to see God’s power at work in the weakness of his human
condition.
Not knowing precisely what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was, Christians in
every era can identify with Paul’s frustration and need of divine
assistance as they face their own experience of an unwanted “thorn in
the flesh.” Likewise, disciples find themselves invited to make Paul’s
conclusion their own, “I will boast all the more gladly of my
weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (12:9). Thus,
God’s grace enables many in every age to conclude with Paul and
proclaim, “whenever I am weak, then I am strong” (12:10).
Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J. is a noted Scripture scholar and writer. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fordham University, Master of Divinity and Doctor of Theology degrees from Toronto School of Theology and a Licentiate in Theology from Regis College. Archbishop Prendergast taught in Halifax at Atlantic School of Theology from 1975-1981, then was Rector of Toronto's Regis College from 1981-87 and Dean of Theology from 1991-1994. For 10 years he wrote a weekly column on Scripture for The Catholic Register.
Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians dwells repeatedly on the threat of suffering and imminence of death in the apostle’s life and, by extension, in that of the Christian believer. 
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