YOU
ARE PATIENCE!
A Lenten Meditation
The apostles had a special appreciation for the virtue of patience. St. Peter, looking back on those years in the Master's company, could write to the first Christians: Consider, beloved, how the Lord's patience is directed to salvation. St. Paul, singing the praises of Christ's mercy, could tell his disciple Timothy: To me, the Lord Jesus showed all His patience!
St. Francis of Assisi offered his followers a unique recipe for perfect joy. It is to be found, not in wealth or great knowledge, not in the power to work miracles or in a variety of talents or charismatic gifts, but in calling to mind in the midst of suffering the patience of Jesus during the hours of His Passion. Pope John Paul II explained why:
In
His Passion,
suffering has been linked to LOVE.
(from
the encyclical, SALVIFICI DOLORIS)
How often in times of trial and suffering, we are tempted to ask: WHY? The Servant of God, John Paul II, reminds us that:
Christ gives the answer
to the question about suffering and the meaning of suffering,
most of all by His own suffering.
Like St. Peter, like St. Paul, like St. Francis, let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who inspires and perfects our faith, most of all in times of suffering, inviting us to enter through our sharing in His Cross into the great mystery of Redemption.
Let
us hold on tightly to Him,
our most sweet and merciful Redeemer.
In His pierced Heart is our hope,
and our peace.
(Pope John Paul II, JESUS, SON AND SAVIOR)
In that Heart is our source of unfailing PATIENCE!
