Blessed with Suffering

Make no mistake: it is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, one of the holy Trinity—he who formed the heavens and the earth, it is the hands of the Creator himself—who heals the blind man in the passage we read today.

St. John Chrysostom points out: For since [the Jews] had heard that God made man from the dust of the earth, so also Christ made clay. … taking earth, and mixing it with spittle, he showed forth his hidden glory.

St. Ephrem the Syrian affirms this same point: “He gave a command to the light, and it was born from the darkness. Thus also here, he formed clay from his saliva, and he supplied what was lacking in creation…to show that what was lacking in nature was being supplied by his hand.”

And St. Theophylact of Ochrid completes this thought with a parable, of sorts: Let us suppose that a man builds a house but leaves one portion of it unfinished, for this reason: at a later time, if anyone should question if he were the builder, he could dispel any doubt on this score by completing the unfinished part to match perfectly with the original.

There is nothing accidental or haphazard in this healing. So it is with us—we may not see it, we may not comprehend it, but God is working: healing the infirmities; “revealing his hidden glory” in us, as Chrysostom said; “supplying what is lacking” in us, as St. Ephrem said; “dispelling doubt…by completing the unfinished part” as St. Theophylact said; confirming and establishing us in him.

We tend to misinterpret the “bad stuff” in life. This man was born blind. Blind is “bad”; it is not “good” to be blind…right?

But St. John Chrysostom points out: “Not only did [Christ] form or open [the man’s] eyes, but gave also the gift of sight.” And then, taking his point further, St. John continues: “I assert that he even received benefit from his blindness: since he recovered the sight of the eyes within.”

St. Theophylact of Ochrid questions the Blind Man directly: “How have you been treated unjustly, O man?” “I have been robbed of light,” he replies. “But what harm did you suffer by being deprived of material light? Now you have received not only physical vision, but that incomparable blessing—the enlightenment of the eyes of your soul.” Thus the affliction [continues St. Theophylact] was to the blind man’s benefit, and through his healing he came to know the true Sun of Righteousness. Therefore, the blind man was not wronged; he was blessed. The man, in his blindness, “was not wronged; he was blessed.”

What is the “blindness” in our life? What is that thing that we interpret as “bad”. That is the very thing God has allowed to benefit us…to bless us. We are blessed. That blindness, that bad thing? We are blessed with that very struggle. We are blessed with that temptation, with that weakness. We are blessed with that suffering. We are blessed with that pain. We are blessed with that sickness.

Honestly, it takes more faith than any of us have. But that is what makes it faith. Therefore, we need to throw off all excuses. It is not the other person; it’s us. It is not just some random sickness brought on by some scientifically-explained process of disease; it is a blessing from God. It is not that something inside us is broken and that we will never win victory over this passion; we have been blessed by God to struggle toward him…in that way, blessed to “prove the tested genuineness” (as St Peter calls it), the tested genuineness of our faith. Without the struggle, the prize is not worth much.

Throw off all those excuses, and receive the blessing with gladness, like the martyrs, exalting in the opportunity to be tortured, thankful that they can join in Christ’s suffering.

Step out in faith. Receive the blessing. And Christ will “dispel doubt…completing the unfinished part”; he will “reveal his hidden glory”; he will “supply what is lacking”; or like the man born blind, he will give “sight to the eyes within”.

Sorrows in a Tough and Demanding Land

What is abundantly obvious is that life in Alaska in the early and mid-1800s was full of trials. Having only married his wife, Anna, in 1826, she fell grievously ill with cancer in 1835, and was sent far down the Alaskan coast to Sitka for medical treatment, before falling asleep in the Lord the next year.

“This same day, May 29th (1836), I received the news of the death of my wife on March 19 of this year in Sitkha. She did not obtain the restoration of her bodily health, but she was cured spiritually, and, by the Will of God, entered eternity. On this occasion, to give me solace, my two brothers Osip and Anton, came here aboard the above mentioned transport vessel. Osip had leave to visit his kin. Anton had the opportunity to do so as he was aboard in the line of duty, serving as First Office on the brig. … This day, then for me, was marked by various events [in my life] which were met unexpectedly.”

And barely one month later:

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Russian Alaska and a Creole Priest

One struggle I was looking for in the journals of St. Jacob is racism. St. Jacob was half Russian, half Alaskan native. And in much of the world’s history during this colonial era, racism is thoroughly embedded. I did find one reference of such an issue from Governor Chistiakov in Sitka, when St. Jacob, his wife, and father first arrived, the governor being described by Archpriest Michael Oleksa as “racist, opposing, and attempting to prohibit Russian-native marriages”. Even then, mentioned in the same source, this governor was known to be anti-clerical. Meaning: he already did not like this priest coming around in the first place, much less his native lineage.

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Yes, Lord — Scriptures, Church, Christ

The holy scriptures—Christ’s Church—Christ himself: how incredibly fortunate we are!

First, the scriptures. John Chrysostom says this:

Great is the profit of the holy Scriptures, and all sufficient is the aid which comes from them…for the divine words are a treasury of all manner of medicines. Whether it be needful to quench pride, to lull passion to sleep, to tread under foot the love of money, to despise pain, to inspire confidence, to gain patience—in the Scriptures we find abundant resources. For what man—of those who struggle with long poverty or who are nailed by a grievous disease—will not, when he reads the passage before us, receive much comfort? This man had been a paralytic for thirty eight years, and he saw others delivered each year, and himself bound by his disease… “Yes, Lord, he says, but I have no man…to put me in the pool.” What can be more pitiable than these words? …Do you see this heart crushed through long sickness? Do you see all violence subdued?…He did not curse his day…but replied gently … Yes, Lord. (Homily 37 on Jn 5)

“Great is the profit”, he says. “All sufficient is the aid which comes” from the scriptures. Let us seek (as St. John put it) the medicine for our pride, our love of money, our fear of pain. And instead, through the reading of the scriptures, find confidence and patience in our long sickness—maybe we are not sick of body, but we are certainly so in soul.

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St. Jacob’s Greatest Gifts to the Church

St. Jacob followed in the footsteps of many who came before him, not only the big names like St. Herman, St. Juvenaly, and St. Innocent, but more than that, the faithful, everyday folks who worked for the Russian-American Company and lived a faithful witness among the Alaskan peoples. What we find all over St. Jacob’s journals is mentions of locals who had been baptized by laymen and just did not have access to a priest. “It remained for me only to establish them in the faith and chrismate them.”

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