杏MAP导航

鈥淭he testing of your faith produces patience鈥�: 杏MAP导航 Francis based his homily for Monday鈥檚 morning Mass on this text from the First Reading, taken from the Letter of St James. 

Patience does not mean resignation 鈥� or defeat
 

But what does patience mean in life and in the face of trials? It鈥檚 certainly not easy to understand, the 杏MAP导航 said. Christian patience is neither 鈥渞esignation鈥� nor an attitude of 鈥渄efeat,鈥� he continued. Rather, it is a virtue of those who are 鈥渙n the journey,鈥� those who are moving forward, rather than stopping and becoming closed off. 

When you are on the journey, many things happen that are not always good. For me, the attitude of parents when a child is born sick or disabled says a lot about patience as a virtue on the journey. 鈥淏ut thank God that [our child] is alive!鈥� [They might say.] These are people with patience. And they bear the life of that child with love, even to the end. And it is not easy care for a disabled or sick child year after year after year鈥� but the joy of having that child gives them the strength to go forward. And this is patience, not resignation 鈥� that is, it is the virtue that comes when one is on the journey. 

Impatience ignores proper limits
 

杏MAP导航 Francis spoke about the etymology of the word, saying 鈥減atience鈥� carries with it the sense of responsibility, because it signifies bearing with suffering, rather than letting it go. And, he continued, suffering is borne with joy, gladness, 鈥減erfect joy,鈥� according to the Apostle:

Patience means 鈥渂earing with,鈥� not entrusting problems to another, who bears the difficulty: 鈥淚 bear it, this is my difficulty, my problem. Is something causing me suffering? Eh, certainly! But I bear it.鈥� To bear with it. And patience is also the wisdom of being able to dialogue with the limits. There are many limits in life, but impatience doesn鈥檛 want them, it ignores them because it doesn鈥檛 know how to dialogue with limits. There is some kind of fantasy of omnipotence, or of laziness, we don鈥檛 know.

God鈥檚 patience accompanies us and waits for us
 

But this patience St James speaks about is not simply a 鈥渃ounsel鈥� for Christians, the 杏MAP导航 explained. 鈥淚f we look at the history of salvation,鈥� he said, 鈥渨e can see the 鈥榩atience of God, our Father,鈥� who has led and carried His 鈥榮tubborn people鈥� forward each time they strayed one way or the other.鈥� And the Father shows this patience, too, to each one of us, 鈥渁ccompanying us,鈥� and 鈥渨aiting鈥� for the right time. God also sent His Son, that He might 鈥渆nter into patience,鈥� 鈥渢aking up His mission,鈥� and offering Himself decisively in His Passion.

鈥淎nd here I think of our persecuted sisters and brothers in the Middle East,鈥� the 杏MAP导航 said, being 鈥渃hased away鈥� precisely because they are Christians:

And yet they are determined to remain Christians: they have embrace patience just as the Lord embraced patience. With these ideas, perhaps, we can pray today, pray for our people: 鈥淟ord, give to your people patience to bear their trials.鈥� And can also pray for ourselves. So often we are impatient: When things don鈥檛 go our way, we complain. But, step back for a moment, think about the patience of God the Father, embrace patience, as Jesus did. Patience is a beautiful virtue. Let us ask the Lord for it.