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Faith Grand
Rapids
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November 2007 Issue
Patience
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St. Paul so beautifully described the community of Christ
in his first letter to the Corinthians, he explained
how each of us is an important part of the entire body.
But to maintain a healthy, smoothly functioning unit,
he said that each of us must come forward with the gifts
which the Holy Spirit gives us, for they are meant for
the service of the others. The shepherds of the community
have the responsibility of calling forth these gifts.
But they also have the great challenge of coordinating
them. God has not been stingy with such gifts.
Since the Second Vatican Council, we
have been blessed to witness the flourishing of so many
of them placed at the service of others both within
the church and in the world at-large. One divine gift,
however, has not been much praised or coveted. It is
the gift of patience. |
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To recommend patience too often sounds like
a cover-up of some kind. Many think that those who extol patience
are simply telling people to put up with things they don't like
or agree with for the sake of a false peace. "Be patient" has
come to mean "Be quiet." It presumes a kind of passiveness and
fatalism. You can't do anything about the situation, so be patient.
St. Paul, however, sees patience as a part of genuine Christian
love. When you are patient, you are ready to exercise the discipline
needed for loving. You persevere through thick and thin, you
endure things you do not understand or appreciate. You don't
keep a grudging count of what it's costing you in time or effort
or even material resources to help someone in need or to show
your love. But the virtue of patience is not a call to be everybody's
doormat. There is no virtue in suffering for its own sake. Putting
up with injustice or cruelty or simple bad behavior is not virtuous
patience. It's the love behind an enduring faithfulness that
makes patience the shining reflection of our Lord's patient
love for us.
Msgr. Gaspar F. Ancona is recently retired.
He is the author of Where the Star Came to Rest, a history
of the Diocese of Grand Rapids.
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