Pain Management

Pain Management was a concern of most enlightened people. Buddha told his disciples to detach from pain. Some others taught of having a parallel world of music and dance, thus forgetting the pain. In truth, we need to face the pain. Veda and vedana both have the same root, vid. Vedana itself is a healing process. When we celebrate the 800th year of the Stigmata of Francis we must meditate on our pain. For Jesus undergoing pain was a new baptism, a baptism by fire.

Jesus told Nicodemus, ‘like Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert’ for those afflicted by snakes to look up, meditate, and get healed’, you need a cross to look up and meditate on. Lift the pain that you have, look at it, meditate on it, and slowly you cope with the pain.

Pastoral accompaniments help others to confront pain. Mary stood at the foot of the cross, as Jesus was in deep pain. When the historic Titanic was sinking, the musicians on board kept playing music, they did not run away first. In the parable of Jesus, when the wolf comes, a good shepherd does not run away, he stands with the sheep.

Cross is the sum total of all human pain. Only someone who has gone through the same pain can understand you. Jesus has suffered every pain possible. His pain starts from his genealogy onwards. Having no offspring is a pain. Genealogy mentions 42 continuous generations, and it stops with a man called Jesus, who did not beget a child. Infertility is one of the major pains of time too.

Jesus was in the womb, and it senses and hears the people questioning the integrity of Mary. Even Joseph is sceptical about the child in her womb. Jesus had the most painful beginning. We have romanticised a lot of parts and characters of the gospel; Mary is portrayed as a beautiful young woman, she in fact was a poor sunburned country woman.

Jesus was homeless. There is a famous sculpture in Canada called ‘The Homeless Christ’. The artist having completed the work went to at least six churches to have it placed in the church or church campus, and they all refused. People can’t even think of a homeless Christ. Now the statue is famous elsewhere.

What pain has Jesus not gone through? He was lonely, misunderstood, poor, arrested, jailed, killed, and so on. One of the most serious pains of our time is people with depression. Did Jesus have depression? The text suggests that Jesus was depressed. The gospel notes this about Jesus, “I am troubled to the point of death.’ This in other words means I am about to commit suicide. In another place, the Jews thought of Jesus that he might commit suicide. Perhaps there must have been SOS messages from Jesus. SOS messages are usually sent out from a sinking ship, or here a sinking man. Jesus has been there all, done it all. The Cross is the sum total of all human pains.

The relieving point is when another person understands the pain when we know of a person who can rightly diagnose our pain and will intervene. Adherent to him; don't let him go without healing you. Sometimes we can become spiritually obstinate. Most times we look for spectacles and miracles; some pains, though understood by Jesus, may stay with you till death. St. Paul talks about a thorn in his flesh. It is something that would affect one’s comfort zone. What was that pain/thorn in his flesh? There are many possibilities. Most think that Paul suffered from epilepsy. Back then it was equated with being possessed, being diabolical. Just imagine a great preacher comes to our church, and as he begins his sermon form and froth come from his mouth and he is on the ground shaking his body violently; what an embarrassment. Paul writes, though you had all the reasons to ridicule me, you supported me. Paul prayed for help; not once but thrice, meaning constantly and completely. And the Lord let that pain be there; but added, ‘My grace is sufficient.’

Vincent Van Gogh, one of the greatest artists of all time, had gone through mental illness. After completing one of his famous paintings, he shot himself. His brother Theo was with him. As he was dying, Van Gogh said/wrote, ‘Pain remains’. All other things are passing, but the pain remains.

Modernity is also about how swiftly one can manage or escape pain. We end with the third cup of thanksgiving and joy. We all have a fourth cup; life is not fished until we drink that cup. The book on the fourth cup divides the chapters into three very simple-looking parts, hold, lift, and sip. It might look simple, but it could take months and years.

As ministers, we are supposed to meet people with pain/suffering every day. Meditating on the cross is the biggest pain management. Isaiah says, with his wounds, he has healed us. Coming out of pain, and helping others to deal with their pains is our ministry.

Notes taken during my annual retreat, preached by Bobby Jose Kattikad, Capuchin.

Comments

Third-Day Is The Most Optimistic Day in The Scriptures

Hosea the prophet had to go through much because he was a prophet; he was even asked to get married to a prostitute in the town. Yet, Hosea says, “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds…. On the third day he will restore us” (Hosea 6:1-2). Retreat is this day (days) of restoration; retreat is we, revisiting our God. The third day is the most optimistic day. The Gospels repeatedly speak of the third day. After losing the boy Jesus, on the third day, his parents found him in the temple (Luke 2:41-52). Jesus returns to his parents on the third day; perhaps he said sorry too. The third day is a day of returning home, returning to the community; it is a day to forgive and ask forgiveness. One of the biggest confidence of Jesus was that he had not lost anyone who was given to him, to his care (John 18:9). On the third day, there was a marriage in Cana in Galilee, and when they ran short of wine Jesus

Go And Preach The Gospel

For St. Francis, the gospel was everything, and the only thing to follow. Young Francis was inspired and caught up with the gospel. He was drawn to it; but at the same time confused. Once after hearing the gospel in a church, he went to the sacristy and asked the old priest, ‘Is the gospel an ideal form of living or is it a mandate for living?’ The priest caught between the gap between his life and the gospel. But later with honesty and courage the priest said, the gospel is a mandate for living. If it is an ideal form of living, a lot of compromise will take place. If it is a mandate for living there is no escape. Matthew 10: 6-16 gives us a mandate as to how to go around the world preaching. These are the guidelines for discipleship. Here the lifestyle of the disciples is defined. He sent them two by two. In Jewish tradition, if something has to be established as true, another has to second what you are saying; so it was sensible to send them two by two. Further, we need brothers a

Dig Deep Enough, And Blessings Come To You

Life is flat like a field on which the farmer was digging in Matthew 13: 44-46. But the idea is that if you dig deep enough you will find treasures in your life, however flat your life may be, as the farmer found treasure in his flat field. In life, revival is possible. The first question of Jesus, ‘who do people say that I am’ was just a process of information gathering. The second question, ‘who do you say that I am’ demanded an answer from the disciples (Matthew 16:13-20). An unquestioned life goes nowhere. The disciples went into a moment of silence. They had to dig deep. However flat the life of peter was, when he dug deep enough, he could see, hear the revelation of the Father, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Having heard the answer of Peter, Jesus gives Peter, the other disciples, and all of us, four blessings: on you (Peter) the rock I will build my church, never will the power of death over come the church, I will give you the keys of the heaven; whatever yo

St. Francis Of Assisi—Take His Stories Seriously

From 2023-2026 we have a series of centenaries of St Francis of Assisi. Though lived only for just 44 years, the size and reach of his life is still growing. He has many names; we call him a brother, and at the same time, a mystic. A mystic is someone who does not operate from a place of faith, instead he has moved on to a place of knowledge, experience, and living; he/she does not need faith anymore. A mystic already lives what people of faith are only believing. This year is the 800 th anniversary of the Stigmata of St. Francis—he was a mystic and he was already there. Francis was born in 1181. He lived an unconscious, unattended, normal life, like any other, for first 24 years. Returning home from the Assisi-Perugia war, as a loser and wounded, Francis went through an awakening moment. One of the existential philosophers has a story of a stonecutter, whose only tool on which he trusted was a hammer. One day, as he was at his work, the hammer breaks, and the stonecutter fell on his

Uncompromising Starting Points Of Discipleship

Living according to the Gospel also makes us pay a price (Luke 9: 57-62). Jesus was magnetic; many got attracted to him spontaneously. Nobody gives his or her life for a cause that is dead. They all wanted to follow Jesus, but could not sustain because of three reasons. Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head. You are condemned to be in perennial disturbance. You will be homeless. You almost are not supposed to be happy, meaning enjoying the pleasures of life. Being joyful is a gospel value. There is a difference between happiness and joy ( santhosham vs anandam ). Jesus had a home; being there Jesus remained homeless. Pastoral care is our anxiety over the people. ‘Jesus found them like sheep without a shepherd.’ He had compassion for them.’ I will bury my father and come back. It is often read as ‘let me fulfill my domestic responsibilities,’ but the passage does not indicate that his father or mother is dead. Jesus

Being Spiritual Is a Never-Ending Process

It is a constant occurrence in the gospels that Jesus comes in conflict with the religious authorities of his time, on food and fasting, on washing hands and pots, on Sabbath and prayer, and even on the idea of god. In Luke 6: 1-5 too the same happens on food and working on a Sabbath. It has been a troubling urge and itch of humanity, and also of the church, to decide clear-cut boundaries for God, boundaries for doing good; thus make their existence acceptable and comfortable. All systems exclude, expel, punish, and protect to find identity for their members in ideological perfection or some kind of “purity.” Richard Rohr in Everything Belongs argues, i t seems that we Christians have been worshiping Jesus’ journey instead of doing his journey. If your prayer is not enticing you outside your comfort zones, if your Christ is not an occasional “threat,” you probably need to do some growing up and learning to love. And he goes on to say; “God is always bigger than the boxes we build

Who Is The Greatest?

The disciples of Jesus disputed among themselves, perhaps not for the first or for the only time, about “who is the greatest among them” (Luke 9: 46-50). Most people do this at least in their mind. Many of us are fake great people. We just feel that we are great, and act as one. Feeling great without being great is a dangerous thing. Jesus gives them two parameters to measure one’s greatness. How do you treat insignificant people? Jesus takes a little child and places her in the midst of them, and tells them, ‘Whoever welcomes this little child in my name is the greatest.” Greatness depends on one’s capacity to accept people who are poor, handicapped, slow in understanding, etc. with our constant exposure to religious activities we are able to empathize, spend time with those who are less privileged than us. How do we deal with people who are equal to us? John brings up a serious matter to Jesus, their master, namely, he saw someone driving out demons in Jesus’ name and they tried to

SPRINGBOARDS and WALKING STICKS

Search This Blog