0
0
Illustration: Patience, engraving by Hans Sebald Beham, 1540
Pope Francis Catechesis, Vices and Virtues. 13. Patience
Paul VI Audience Hall = Wednesday, 27 March 2024
Cycle of Catechesis. Vices and Virtues. 13. Patience
A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
Love is patient and kind, it is not irritable or resentful,
love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
“For Paul. this is the first characteristic of God’s love”.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Last Sunday we listened to the account of the Lord’s Passion.
Jesus responds to the sufferings he endured with a virtue that is not considered among the traditional ones, but which is so important: patience. It regards the forbearance of what one suffers: it is not a coincidence that patience has the same root as passion.
And it is precisely in the Passion that Christ’s patience is revealed: with meekness and gentleness he accepts being arrested, beaten and condemned unjustly; he does not denounce Pilate; he bears being insulted, spat upon and flagellated by the soldiers; he carries the weight of the cross; he forgives those who nail him to the wood; and on the cross, he does not respond to provocations, but offers mercy.
All of this tells us that Jesus’ patience does not consist of a stoical resistance to suffering, but is the fruit of a greater love.
The Apostle Paul, in the so-called “hymn to charity” closely links love and patience.
In fact, in describing the first quality of charity, he uses a word that is translated as “generous” or “patient”.
It expresses a surprising concept, that frequently appears in the Bible: God, faced with our infidelity, shows himself to be “slow to anger” (cf. Ex 34:6; cf. Nm 14:18): instead of unleashing his disgust at man’s evil and sin, He reveals Himself to be greater, always ready to start afresh with infinite patience.
For Paul, this is the first characteristic of God’s love, which in the face of sin proposes forgiveness.
But not only that: it is the first characteristic of every great love, which knows how to respond to evil with good, which does not withdraw in anger and discouragement, but perseveres and tries again.
So, at the root of patience is love, as Saint Augustine says: “Every just person is more courageous in enduring all kinds of suffering in proportion as the love of God is more powerful in him”” (De patientia, XVII).
One could say that there is no better witness to Christ’s love than to meet a patient Christian.
But think of how many mothers and fathers, workers, doctors and nurses, the sick, who every day, in obscurity, grace the world with their holy patience!
As the Scripture affirms, “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty” (Proverbs 16:32).
But let us be honest: we often lack patience.
We need it as an “essential vitamin” to get by, but it is instinctive for us to become impatient and to respond to evil with evil; it is difficult to remain calm, to control our instincts, to refrain from bad reactions, to defuse quarrels and conflicts in the family, at work, in the Christian community.
Let us remember that patience is not only a need, but also a calling: if Christ is patient, the Christian is called to be patient.
And this demands that we go against the tide with respect to today’s widespread mentality, which is dominated by haste and the desire for “everything now”; in which, instead of waiting for situations to mature, people are pushed, in the expectation that they will change immediately.
Let us not forget that haste and impatience are the enemies of spiritual life: God is love, and those who love do not tire, they are not hot-tempered, they do not give ultimatums, but know how to wait.
Think of the story of the merciful Father, who waits for his son who has left home: he suffers patiently, impatient only to embrace him when he sees him return (cf. Lk 15:21); or the parable of the wheat and the weeds, with the Lord who is not in a hurry to uproot the evil before its time, so that nothing is lost (cf. Mt 13:29-30).
But how can we grow in patience?
Since, as Saint Paul teaches us, it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22 –the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,), one must ask for it from the Spirit of Christ.
He gives us the meek strength of patience, because “Christian virtue is not only to do good, but to tolerate evil” (Augustine, Sermons, 46,13).
Especially in these days, it will be good for us to contemplate the Crucified One to assimilate His patience.
Another good exercise is to take the most troublesome people to Him, and ask for the grace to practice towards them that work of mercy which is so well known, yet so neglected: patiently enduring troublesome people.
It begins with asking to look at them with compassion, with God’s gaze, knowing how to distinguish their faces from their faults.
Finally, in order to cultivate patience, a virtue that gives breath to life, it is good to broaden one’s horizons.
For example, by not limiting the field of the world to our own concerns, as the Imitation of Christ invites us to do: “”Remember the very painful sufferings of others, so that you may more easily bear your own little ones”, and remember that “with God, nothing suffered for his sake, however small, can pass without reward” (III, 19).
And again, when we feel that we are in the grip of adversity, as Job teaches us, it is good to open ourselves with hope to the newness of God, in the unshakeable confidence that he will not disappoint our expectations.
______________________
Summary of the Holy Father’s words
In our continuing catechesis on the virtues, we now turn to patience, which has its supreme model in the example of Jesus during his Passion.
Jesus’ patience, did not consist in a stoic endurance of suffering, but was the fruit of his love.
Saint Paul also associates patience with the love of God, who is “slow to anger” and quick to repay evil with good.
Indeed, Christian patience and forbearance are the most convincing witness to Christ’s love.
During this Holy Week, let us ask for the grace of the Holy Spirit. to imitate Christ in his patience and compassionate love, which forgives all wrongs and shows mercy even to his enemies.
