Tag Archives: patience

All of Life is an Advent

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Click here for today’s Scripture readings.

Is 35:1-6a, 10
Jas 5:7-10
Mt 11:2-11

In the second reading James is encouraging the Christian community to be patient as they wait for the coming of the Lord. In the early years of the church many thought that Jesus would return to relieve the sufferings of his followers and vindicate their faith in him and all would be well. In time they came to see this was unrealistic and the how and when of Jesus’ coming is known to God alone.

That simple piece of advice of James ‘be patient’ is an important bit of advice for all of us at this frenetic time of the year. I read these powerful, probing words just recently;

“We humans will always be in Advent. A year’s Christmas may come, regeneration may occur, but at the core of our being is an endless waiting. “Come, Lord Jesus” is a song not only for December. It is a refrain for our entire lives, all our days.”

”For the world and all its life is only Advent. It is a creation unfinished, a groaning for another wondrous coming, a second birth. Our final happiness and healing, rich or poor, will not be quarried here. We who believe that heaven once came down to earth in Jesus also believe that every grace of the earth will be lifted to undying life by our God made flesh.”

Be patient, be patient. Our patience will be tested these coming weeks as we get ready to celebrate Christmas.
We need to be patient when we are constantly questioned by anxious, impatient children, ‘when will Santa get here?’

James wisely uses the example of the farmer. He plants the seeds and from then on it is out of his hands. He patiently waits for the spring rains and the fall rains. If they don’t come there is nothing he can do about it – he just waits and hopes for a harvest so he can feed his family. The universe is unfolding as it should.

We live in a time of instantcy, if that’s a word. We must have instant communication we have a cell phone, or ipod or a blackberry. We must have whatever it takes to be available to one another 24/7. We want everything to happen ‘now’. Our time is precious, our time is important so we resent the time it takes to get a doctor’s appointment, we’re upset when we have long waits in a hospital emergency room we demand to be seen right away. We wonder why we have to wait so long for those blood tests to come back. Patience!

We’re rushing to an appointment, we know we are late and that blessed red light just won’t turn green or that car ahead of us has to wait to make a right hand turn while those sluggish pedestrians take their time crossing the street. Just great! Patience.

The shopping plaza is a real test of patience as we try to find a parking spot and just when we find one someone else gets to it first and it’s not the Hail Mary we say. We go into a major store and look in vain for a salesperson to help us. We get into an express line at Loblaw’s or Longo’s and we wait and wait as a struggling senior is trying to get her arthritic fingers around that quarter at the bottom of her change purse. It’s a grand time of year. Patience.

I don’t know whether or not you saw that poster that was out years ago of a roughed up, unkempt little guy with a band aid on forehead and the hint of a black eye and he’s saying, ‘Be patient, God’s not finished with me yet.’

Don’t we get impatient with ourselves as we discover that, for all our efforts and good intentions we still have a short fuse and a sharp, caustic tongue when things don’t go our way? Do we find ourselves getting annoyed with ourselves because we can’t be still and pray and our thoughts are going off in a thousand different directions?
Are we disappointed with ourselves when we find we aren’t as broadminded and accepting of others as we thought we were, after making a hurtful racist or sexist remark? Isn’t it disappointing when we have to face the hard truth that we are still self –centered, self indulgent, self opinionated? Have you ever found yourself saying, ‘Lord make me patient, now’?

In this season of Advent we can pray for ourselves and for each other that we patiently face the fact that all of our lives are an Advent, and at the core of our being is an endless waiting. Come Lord Jesus is a song not only for December, it is a refrain for our entire lives, may we never cease singing it.

Father Paul Cusack, C.P. is the pastor of St. Gabriel Passionist Parish in Toronto, Canada.

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It’s a big world, Live in it

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Click here for today’s Scripture readings.

Jeremiah 14:17-22
Matthew 13:36-43

In a Peanuts cartoon Charlie Brown approaches Lucy who sits behind her makeshift office where she offers Psychiatric Help for five cents. Charlie’s problem is simply put, “I don’t fit in…what can you do when life seems to be passing you by?” “Follow me,” she says, “…See the horizon over there? See how big this world is? Ever see any other worlds? No other worlds for you to live in…right?” And then Lucy delivers her sage advice, printed in large, bold letters that sends Charlie tumbling through the air, “Well, Live in it, then!” Lucy’s session concludes, “Five cents please.”

Chapter 13 of Matthew’s Gospel is exciting; it is full of familiar, entertaining and beautiful parables telling us about the Kingdom of God. If we have ‘Charlie Brown’ feelings about where we stand as disciples in our world, Matthew tells us, “Live the Kingdom of God.” Lucy patiently leads Charlie to see what seems the obvious, Matthew does the same for a disciple. He ends the chapter asking the disciples, “Do you understand?” “Yes”, they answer. In fact Matthew may say with a smile, you are in such good shape that you have in your storehouse old treasures and newly discovered gifts to draw upon to live this Kingdom of God.

What is this Kingdom of God that Matthew talks about? It is God’s gift, something in the future that we will reach; a goal. It is a wedding banquet where we will celebrate the fullness of God’s love. But it is also something present with us daily. The Kingdom of God is the active presence of our loving, forgiving God, present with us even as we seek and await the fullness of the Kingdom. We work to engage this divine presence, which is at times quite hidden and quiet. We work to make present the love and forgiveness of this Kingdom in our daily lives. This can give us a glimpse of what its fullness will be like.

As we enjoy the parables of the Kingdom, our Gospel today explains one of the longer parables, the parable of weeds sown by an enemy. Matthew adds a practical piece to the puzzle of the Kingdom present but also to come. He stresses patience. First we need to be patient with ourselves as we strive to make the Kingdom of God present. We don’t always work so well. Those weeds are tricky. They look like the wheat and so we have to be watchful, take time to examine what is in front of us. Patience is necessary to distinguish between what is worth cultivating and what only takes up room and returns nothing life giving. Weeds do not reflect among us the fullness of God’s Kingdom of love and forgiveness.

And we must also be patient with the mystery of God’s plan for the coming Kingdom. The pearl, the treasure, a big bag of seeds and a field that is the world, these are symbols for the Kingdom. It takes patience to find a valuable pearl, craftily burying a discovered treasure and then figuring out how to obtain the property demands patience, seeing the mysterious, slow growth of our garden to fullness these summer days is the reward given only to the patient. Patience is prerequisite as we each wait in our own way for the fullness of the Kingdom. If we get worried like Charlie Brown, and are disorientated disciples, Matthew gives us encouragement. We await the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God. It is a gift. It of course comes as a surprise. Be patient. Lucy would say to us, ‘live it now’, even as we patiently wait.

Father Bill Murphy, C.P. is the pastor of St. Joseph Monastery  Passionist Parish in Baltimore, Maryland.