{"id":10730,"date":"2026-08-27T19:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T23:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/books-and-articles\/e90-accompaniment-04\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T19:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T23:03:16","slug":"e90-accompaniment-04","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/books-and-articles\/e90-accompaniment-04\/","title":{"rendered":"Accompaniment 4: Mark 3 \u2014 The man with the withered hand"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Written for Exodus 90 in 2023, as part of a series of ten reflections on the art of accompaniment.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As we have seen in our reflections so far, we are made to be in a communion of persons. It is necessary to be vulnerable to enter into a communion of persons. It is hard to be vulnerable because we have been hurt and we feel shame. Our shame protects us from being vulnerable when it is unsafe to do so, but it also inhibits us from being vulnerable when it lies and tells us we are unworthy of love and belonging. When we are able to be vulnerable with a trustworthy person and enter into a communion of persons, however, we can experience a profound healing. Like St. Peter when Jesus brought his shame to the surface and helped him to be vulnerable, we too can experience the healing that comes from being loved in our vulnerability.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, what we learn from the Scripture is that vulnerability can release the power of healing in itself. The most striking example of this is the account of the man with the withered hand. I imagine that man stayed out of the way. Furthermore, he probably kept his withered hand hidden, tucked away or covered up in his garment. Such defects were a cause of scorn and evoked disdain from others. It was presumed that defects came from sin (cf. John 9:2) and so it was very vulnerable to let them be seen. It was already vulnerable for him to respond to Jesus\u2019s call: \u201cCome here\u201d (Mk 3:3). After a brief interaction with the Pharisees and others in the synagogue he invited the man: \u201cStretch out your hand\u201d (Mk 3:5). The Gospel tells us that the healing happened in the very act of vulnerability: \u201cHe stretched it out, and his hand was restored\u201d (Mk 3:5). Jesus took no further action\u2014no speaking, no spitting, no touching. The vulnerability itself was enough to receive the healing. We see a similar dynamic in the healing of the ten lepers: \u201c[Jesus] said to [the lepers], \u2018Go and show yourselves to the priests.\u2019 And as they went they were cleansed\u201d (Lk 17:14).<\/p>\n<p>This might surprise us that the path to healing is not a path of accomplishments, but a path of vulnerability. The principal challenge for us is not to achieve stellar results, but rather to share our hearts, especially the most vulnerable places in our hearts, with another person. What is the role of spiritual disciplines then? Our efforts matter! That is to say, our efforts matter in so far as they are aimed at the same result\u2014a communion of persons built on the service of love. Both our strengths and our weaknesses are necessary for that communion of persons. We must learn to put our strengths into the service of others. In particular, we must learn to become a safe place for the vulnerabilities of others. We must work to be trustworthy. This requires overcoming our selfishness and making virtuous choices. At the same time, it requires us to share our weaknesses, be vulnerable, and let ourselves be loved and served as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written for Exodus 90 in 2023, as part of a series of ten reflections on the art of accompaniment. As we have seen in our reflections so far, we are made to be in a communion of persons. It is necessary to be vulnerable to enter into a communion of persons. It is hard to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":10722,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10730","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P7bfMR-2N4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10728,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/books-and-articles\/e90-accompaniment-02\/","url_meta":{"origin":10730,"position":0},"title":"Accompaniment 2: Gen 3 \u2014 The effects of shame","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"August 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Written for Exodus 90 in 2023, as part of a series of ten reflections on the art of accompaniment. The necessary condition for entering into a communion of persons is what Pope St. John Paul II calls \u201coriginal nakedness.\u201d This is the personal transparency that allows the inside to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10736,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/books-and-articles\/e90-accompaniment-10\/","url_meta":{"origin":10730,"position":1},"title":"Accompaniment 10: Jn 13 \u2014 A new commandment","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"August 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Written for Exodus 90 in 2023, as part of a series of ten reflections on the art of accompaniment. This Gospel passage summarizes the whole of salvation history and its fulfillment in Christ with a single commandment: \u201cLove one another as I love you.\u201d Earlier Jesus indicated that the greatest\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10731,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/books-and-articles\/e90-accompaniment-05\/","url_meta":{"origin":10730,"position":2},"title":"Accompaniment 5: Jn 4 \u2014 He told me all that I ever did","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"August 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Written for Exodus 90 in 2023, as part of a series of ten reflections on the art of accompaniment. As we have reflected, we are made for being in a communion of persons. Our Exodus groups can be a great example of that. A real depth of friendship can form\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10735,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/books-and-articles\/e90-accompaniment-09\/","url_meta":{"origin":10730,"position":3},"title":"Accompaniment 9: Mk 5 \u2014 Fixing is a form of shaming","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"August 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Written for Exodus 90 in 2023, as part of a series of ten reflections on the art of accompaniment. In our first reflections we looked at the importance of relationships and our goal to develop a communion of persons. Relationships are essential, but relationships can also be hurtful or unhelpful,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10729,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/books-and-articles\/e90-accompaniment-03\/","url_meta":{"origin":10730,"position":4},"title":"Accompaniment 3: Jn 21 \u2014 Peter, do you love me? Try, fail, surrender","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"August 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Written for Exodus 90 in 2023, as part of a series of ten reflections on the art of accompaniment. As we reflected in the last article, our work of healing is to try to be vulnerable. When we try, we will inevitably fail. This failure may be our own fault\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10727,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/books-and-articles\/e90-accompaniment-01\/","url_meta":{"origin":10730,"position":5},"title":"Accompaniment 1: Gen 2 \u2014 It is not good for man to be alone","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"August 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Written for Exodus 90 in 2023, as part of a series of ten reflections on the art of accompaniment. In his monumental work on the Theology of the Body, Pope St. John Paul II introduced some key terms: \u201coriginal solitude,\u201d \u201coriginal unity,\u201d and \u201coriginal nakedness.\u201d Original solitude described the state\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10730\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}