GOD AND US, PATIENCE VS IMPATIENCE.
July 19 2020
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
A Moroccan proverb says, “He who has patience with his
enemy, rewards himself.” And an Arabic proverb adds, “Patience is the key of
joy, but haste is the key to sorrow.”
With time and events, one reaches the conclusion that in
each human being, there is a certain degree of impatience. “Hic et Nunc”, that
is our main philosophy and attitude in all that we do. We want all things to be
done instantly, just at a click. But when it comes to forgiving, we take our
time, we painfully and hardly forgive. We are not patient when dealing with
others, while God, on the other hand, shows always great patience and
understanding in dealing with us.
Through his divine patience, God teaches the wretched
creature that we are, that without Him, we can do nothing. Because of His
patient love, God still works in you and me. The Catechism can give us a
beautiful theological and catechetical ground for our today’s meditation. It
says, “The truth that God is at work in all the actions of his creatures is
inseparable from faith in God the Creator. God is the first cause who operates
in and through secondary causes: "For God is at work in you, both to will
and to work for his good pleasure." Far from diminishing the creature's
dignity, this truth enhances it. Drawn from nothingness by God's power, wisdom,
and goodness, it can do nothing if it is cut off from its origin, for
"without a Creator, the creature vanishes." Still less can a creature
attain its ultimate end without the help of God's grace.” CCC. 308.
The author of the book of Wisdom expresses the patience of
God. He tells us that not only God has no equal and that he cares for us all,
but he also gives repentance for sins. God gives us always, not a second
chance, but an ever-renewed opportunity for conversion. He shows to be superior
to us and powerful by forgiving. As says the Psalmist, God is good in
forgiving.
The Lord Jesus, in the gospel, will show how patient God is.
He does not want to destroy the righteous together with the sinner. But not
only that, but he also gives sufficient time and a chance to the sinners to
live, hoping that he will repent and change his way. The patience of God is not
a let go or an expression of laxity. It is not a sign of compliance or
conformism to sin. Although God loves everyone and sinners included, He hates
sin. He only gives sinners the occasion and opportunity to change their
behavior. It is in fact that the meaning of his patience.
The parable of the good seed and the weeds growing together,
side by side, also teaches us that the world is not made only of saints. The
righteous live amidst and together with the unrighteous. If God permits that,
it is not for the righteous to be contaminated or corrupted by the unrighteous,
but rather, for the righteous to impact positively on evildoers and lead them
to repentance.
In God’s love, there is no quarantine facilities, no blocks
or clusters, no compartments for good and bad. All are left together.
Therefore, if contagion has to happen, it must not be evil to contaminate, but
the good that must infest and take over positively on all kinds of evil.
Brothers and sisters, to use the vocabulary of this present situation of the Chinese Virus pandemic, we are called not to test positive to impatience and evilness, but rather to test positive to God’s patience and to good and negative to sin. In the battle to be positive to God’s love and patience, we are not left alone by ourselves. St. Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit himself intercedes for us. For, “The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought…” May we, therefore, open ourselves to that work of the Spirit in us, and patiently learn to become Godlike. May we finish saying that though it sounds hard, with patience everything is possible while precipitation ruins all achievements. So, the Canadian proverb can say, “Patience is a tree whose root is bitter, but its fruit is very sweet.”
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