Healing Hurt Like an Oyster

Allison Auth discovers the secret of turning injury into a pearl.

I was having a conversation with someone when they said a passing remark that stung. It wasn’t judgmental, and it wasn’t really untrue, but it was unnecessary. I tried to make light of it and move on, but two days later as I was praying, the words came back as an irritant to my soul. The words still had a biting sting as they hit me in a place of insecurity.

You can probably relate. Long after the conversation is over, the words linger. Maybe they weren’t intended to wound, but they often find themselves lodged in our mind. I realized that these words weren’t meant for harm, but they also weren’t going anywhere, so what was I to do?

In my prayer, the image of an oyster came to mind. The sharp words were my irritant just as a foreign particle is for the oyster. It’s there to stay, so how do we live with it? We can learn from the oyster, for it has the ability to take the problem and turn it into a pearl by coating the irritant in gradual layers of its own inner lining, the nacre layer.

It goes within itself to transform a suffering into a treasure.

The Healing Layer

The internet tells me that oysters have the ability to expel a grain of sand, so a pearl is often the oyster’s response to a parasitic intruder. Yikes. It sounds like the evil one who sows hurt and division, who wants the words to sting and keep us stuck in cycles of pain.

But there is hope! The Catechism does not say we are able to forget the pain, but says instead that our hurt can be transformed:

It is not in our power not to feel or to forget an offense, but the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit turns injury into compassion and purifies the memory in transforming the hurt into intercession. (CCC 2843)

We offer the injury to the Holy Spirit and He in turn provides the balm, the protective covering that transforms injury into treasure, suffering into glory. The Holy Spirit is the comforter, protector, healer, counselor. He lives within us, providing us with the grace of the healing layer.

So I prayed: “Holy Spirit, these words really hurt me. They stung in a sensitive place in my soul and I don’t know what to do with it. I forgive the person who hurt me, but would you help me, almighty God, to transform this pain? Come with your healing Spirit, a touch of grace, and make a pearl in me.”

Treasure Takes Time

Did you know the oyster applies very thin layers of nacre gradually over time? It can take up to two years to create a pearl that is only 5 millimeters in diameter. Healing and forgiveness take time. But when we stay in the work and offer it to the Holy Spirit, He does a beautiful work in us.

Over the next few days, the words hurt less as I allowed the Holy Spirit in. I also was able to see the truth of the situation — the words weren’t intended to hurt, it was a one-off comment, and there was only goodwill from the other. The new viewpoint helped, and eventually the pain went away.

Harsher words and actions take longer. That’s okay. This kind of treasure takes time. We continue to coat the injury one thin layer at a time. Transformation is possible with grace, and our brain is re-wirable! With time and new positive feedback loops, we can purify the memory of the hurt.

When we get to Heaven, we can come with all the pearls we’ve made with the help of the Holy Spirit. Grace is transformative when we cooperate and turn the suffering into treasure.

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Copyright 2026 Allison Auth
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