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Ordinary Time · Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time · Year B

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

The Thorn in the Flesh

July 4, 2027

An Elderly Man as Saint Paul, Rembrandt van Rijn
An Elderly Man as Saint Paul, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1659The National Gallery, London
Not a portrait of Paul so much as an old man hired to sit as him, which is how Rembrandt worked. The book and the thinking are real; the costume is studio property.These passages are Paul reasoning carefully through a difficulty, and the painting is a face in the middle of that work.Rembrandt van RijnRembrandt (1606-1669) painted scripture as if it had happened in a room he had been in, and returned to the same stories across forty years, changing his mind about them in public.The National Gallery, LondonFounded in 1824 with thirty-eight pictures bought from a banker's estate, and still free to enter, as its founders insisted.The National Gallery, London
Roman Lectionary
GospelMark 6:1-6Mk 6:1-6
Second Reading2 Cor. 12:7-102 Cor 12:7-10
First ReadingEzek. 2:2-5Ez 2:2-5
Responsorial PsalmPs. 123:1-2a, 2bc, 3-4 (2cd)Ps 123:1-2a, 2bc, 3-4 (2cd)

Overview & Insights

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

Paul recounts being caught up to the third heaven yet boasts instead in his weaknesses and a thorn in the flesh, through which the power of Christ rests on him.

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Take it further: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Commentary

Working Preacher: Commentary on 2 Corinthians 12:2-10Working Preacher: Commentary on 2 Cor 12:2-10 Working Preacher

A preaching focused reading of the thorn in the flesh.

Enduring Word: 2 Corinthians 12Enduring Word: 2 Cor 12 Enduring Word · David Guzik

Verse by verse evangelical commentary on the chapter.

Precept Austin: 2 Corinthians 12 CommentaryPrecept Austin: 2 Cor 12 Commentary Precept Austin

A deep gathering of study notes and cross references.

Bible Hub: 2 Corinthians 12:7 CommentariesBible Hub: 2 Cor 12:7 Commentaries BibleHub

Classic and modern commentaries on the thorn passage.

Brant Pitre on the 14th Sunday Readings Catholic Productions · Brant Pitre

A Catholic reading of Paul's thorn in the flesh set beside the day's Gospel.

Background & Word Study

Bible Hub Interlinear: 2 Corinthians 12Bible Hub Interlinear: 2 Cor 12 BibleHub

The Greek text with parsing and gloss for each word.

BibleProject: Overview of 2 CorinthiansBibleProject: Overview of 2 Cor BibleProject

An animated overview of the letter and its argument.

The Church Fathers

Catena: 2 Corinthians 12Catena: 2 Cor 12 Catena

Early church comment on Paul's weakness and grace gathered by verse.

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