Have Patience in All Things

“Have patience with all things – but first with yourself. Never confuse your mistakes with your value as a human being. You are perfectly valuable, creative, worthwhile person simply because you exist. And no number of triumphs or tribulations can ever change that.” St. Francis de Sales

Recently, the morning mass at the parish I attended during the week was canceled for the summer. The regular priest could not continue saying mass because of his health and there was no one to replace him. Sadly, to say, the parish took it poorly and they were angry at the pastor. Now that it is summer, we need to find another parish to attend daily mass. It is not so easy in this city. We need to put our trust in our Lord. The quote from St. Francis de Sales seems like self-help, but it is not. I had to learn a lot of patience when I began teaching and the learning curve was difficult. We need to accept what God asks from us.

“God knows our whole being. Those who ask for His grace with confidence will not be disappointed. Ask Him to give you all you need.” St. Sharbel

From research, I read about St. Germaine Cousin. Her mother died when she was an infant, and her father remarried rather quickly after. Germaine had difficulty with her stepmother immediately. Germaine was weak, had a paralyzed right hand and her father did not defend her. She did not get enough to eat, was abused and was abandoned for three days in a well. When she got sick with tuberculosis, she was sent to the stable to live. But St. Germaine never let this prevent her from believing in God nor did it leave her doubting in him. She always repeated the prayer, “Dear God, please don’t let me be too hungry or too thirsty. Help me to please my mother. And help me to please you.” Bl. Chiara Luce Badano was an answer to her parents’ prayers who were childless for some time. But her life was not easy. She was athletic, popular and smart. She wanted to live for God. She had to repeat a year in high school and then was diagnosed with bone cancer. But she would not turn away from the opportunity to give her entire self to our Lord: “For you, Jesus . . . if you want it, I want it, too!” Some would say that her life was ended too soon, that she was so young, but Bl. Chiara Luce used her disappointments and sufferings to stay attached to the Lord.

There is a very unknown story about a young boy, Edimar, who was 17 in Brazil in the early 1990s. He was a killer several times over working for a gang of thugs. At one point, when he went to school, he had a teacher in whose face he saw something beautiful. In Alberto Savorana’s book, The Life of Luigi Giussani, he writes about Edimar; when this boy met that teacher he was surprised, shocked… he saw and wanted what she had – faith; that light of Christ that transcends darkness. I always remembered this story when I heard it the first time and it still haunts me. Edimar had met something beautiful and when his gang members saw him again, they knew he was different. They tested him by asking him to go and kill someone. He said that he did not do that anymore and told them no. He was killed by the gang for refusing. It was a sacrifice he made for the love of Christ.

“Do not allow the sad state of human injustice disturb your mind.” St. Padre Pio 

We have all experienced disappointment. We have all experienced some strife. But we cannot stop there. Those experiences must bring us closer to God, not further away. This can only be done through a relationship with Our Lord. I recently saw a post about the First Martyrs of Rome who died at the hands Nero. How they must have suffered!! However, it is Christ who helps us understand our difficulty, our trials and our sorrow. He will make sense of it all and we need to surround ourselves with people who will show us the road. Pope Leo reminds us often how much we are loved.

“Jesus showed us a model of human holiness that we can all imitate together with the promise of an eternal destiny that transcends all our limits and abilities.” Pope Leo XIV