One of the toughest challenges we have faced over the past many months, along with all the threats to our health, is the Gospel’s central challenge (which will never go away) to imitate Jesus’ patience. Amid the many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been forced to look in a new way at our world and at our lives and ask again, “Why do we try to live in such a hurry? How does rushing around all the time, being restless, and trying to acquire more and more ‘stuff’ really help us?”
The virus has forced us to slow down in many ways and live more simply, but so many people still try to live running away from silence, never wanting to wait, and expecting everything to be done how and when we want it done. Sadly, being slow, prudent, and deliberate is considered by many to be a vice, a waste of time. But time is not a commodity; it is a communion of hearts. Life is not a fast-food restaurant – it is a patient pilgrimage. High speed internet may connect smartphones, but only patience connects hearts.
Amid all the spiritual and emotional challenges we face, perhaps the Lord is working to rebuild us to have greater patience. Let’s cooperate with His efforts!
Let us pray. “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.” ~ St. Francis of Assisi
