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Endurance champ reaches goal swimmingly

08 Sep 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“What is within our grasp we find with difficulty” given “the corruptible body” we are burdened with, the reading from the Book of Wisdom this Sunday attests. Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad and her 64-year-old body, who had fallen short on four previous tries to swim from Cuba to Florida, finally achieved her difficult goal on Monday and became the first person to make the epic swim without a cage to protect against sharks and jellyfish stings.Nyad had dreamed of swimming from Cuba to Florida for three-and-a-half-decades, and finally on her fifth attempt she completed the 110-mile swim last Monday. Nyad said her mantra through the swim was "find a way.""It doesn't matter . . . what you come up against because none of it's going to be pleasant." she said referring to the journey. "You're hardly ever out there going, 'Oh, my God, isn't it a beautiful moon tonight?' The crew is feeling that. But you're kind of suffering through the whole thing. So my thought was, 'Everything you come up against say—and this is why people are relating to my story—all of us suffer heartache. All of us suffer difficulties in our lives. And if you say to yourself 'find a way,' you'll make it through."Nyad was 28-years-old when she first tried to swim across the Florida Straits. That first time winds knocked her far off course. Other times it was poisonous jellyfish stings which deterred her. But this year, the weather, currents, and marine life allowed her to power through the miles to reach her goal.Nyad said the hundreds of people who lined the beach in Key West to welcome her after her nearly 53-hour swim were “wonderful.” “They're not people reading a sports page every day. Those are human beings who want to witness the living out of that message—never, ever give up. And find a way . . . . And my age, they're looking at me as a baby boomer, saying life is not over at this age by any means. So I'm more of, shall we say, [a] human spirit story than I am a sports story."Nyad next plans marathon swims as fundraisers for victims of disasters in New York City, Boston, and Moore, Oklahoma.Homily hint: Nyad’s epic journey strikes a chord for anyone who has faced obstacles and persevered. Hers is the kind of experience of which the Second Letter to Timothy wrote: “I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (4:7). Sources: Articles by Maggie Fox for NBC News, Josh Levs for CNN, and CBS News

marathon swims endurance florida straits swimming diana nyad

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Quotes

13 Nov 2022 - Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Only wonder understands anything. —Saint Gregory of Nyssa In order that your prayer may be real, you must deal with the arduousness of work. . . . Your prayer becomes whole when it is of a piece with your labor. —Rule of Taizé Endurance . . . is peace in time of war, calm in rough waters, safety amidst treachery and danger. It makes those who practice it stronger than steel. —Nilus of Ancyra (d. c. 430)

wonder endurance

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Featured Exploring the Word

15 Sep 2024 - Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Who wants to suffer? If anyone raises a hand, back away and call an attending physician. Suffering is not a desirable condition, and those who possess mental health not only don’t seek it, but actively avoid it. When faced with an episode of certain pain—say, a trip to the dentist or a visit with a difficult relative—we might well evaluate if this event is absolutely necessary or if there might be another way to achieve the result, be it dental health or family harmony. So in this touchy moment between Jesus and Peter, our sympathies lie with the disciple who does not want to see his teacher and friend harmed. Consider the context: Peter just professed Jesus as the Messiah and had high hopes for doing so. The Anointed of God historically held a position of leadership in the community that was sometimes priestly, other times kingly, but always powerful. In his ministry Jesus was demonstrating an authority greater than priests and kings of Israel had enjoyed. So why not raise one’s expectations even further? And why should a leader destined for greatness set his sights on horrible goalposts like suffering, rejection, and death—whether or not resurrection from the dead be the long-term destination point? That was demoralizing talk for a would-be Messiah to be offering so publicly. No wonder Peter protested. Was there, in fact, another way to achieve the desired result? Theologians have argued about this. Was crucifixion a necessary eventuality or a by-product of human hard-heartedness? Rather than imagine Jesus was following the script prophets composed under the influence of divine dictation, we might look to the nature of love to see how it operates in the world. Love is patient and kind, yes, but it’s also long-suffering, or as the apostle says: It bears all things and endures all things. That love also believes and hopes for all things is what makes endurance possible. But there seems to be no way to skirt the near occasion of suffering for those faithful to love’s obligations. That is why there are no parents whose family life is scot-free of trouble. Nor are there beautiful bodies out there that never break down, never know pain. Nobody loves their job so much that it doesn’t cost them sacrifices large and small. No one is spared the betrayals of friendship, or gives their heart to another person without experiencing the anguish of losing the beloved to death over time. The way of love is not simply the way of pain; these are not precisely identified routes. But the path of love will inevitably involve suffering. Jesus needed only to know love, and not the future, to know that. Related scripture links Isaiah’s faithful servant poems: Isa. 42:1-9; 49:1-7; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12 Personal confessions of faith: (Peter) Matt. 16:13-20; (John the Baptist) John 1:29, 36; (Nathaniel) John 1:49; (Nicodemus) John 3:2; (Samaritan woman) John 4:19, 29, 39; (Samaritans) John 4:42; (Man born blind) John 9:35-38; (Martha) John 11:27; (centurion) Mark 15:39; Matt. 27:54; (Thomas) John 20:28 Catechism links Catechesis: CCC 4-10; 282; 426-429; 904-907; 1074-1075; 1696-1698; 2033; 2221-2226; 2688 Adapted from a previously published Exploring the word.

Authors Alice Camille

Suffering endurance Love

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