The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews encourages us to be patient in our trails. He writes, “Endure your trials as discipline”. Patience, he argues, is what we need in order to face our sufferings. The focus of my reflections today will, consequently, be the most needed virtue of patience.

This week, reflecting on the subject of discipline I recalled something that happened to me when I was in Seminary in Colombia. My bishop used to send his seminarians to help in parishes during holy week. My diocese was enormous, located in the mountains with many parishes difficult to reach. Holy week for seminarians was not exactly vacation time. The bishop of the diocese where the Seminary was located, on the other hand, did not send his seminarians to parishes; they would stay at the Seminary and participate in the liturgies with him at the Cathedral.

One year some weeks prior to holy week I asked the Seminary director for permission to go home one Saturday. The reason was to attend a Mass being offered for an uncle of mine who had recently died. My hometown was only one hour away by car. The priest in charge of discipline that week was made aware of the permit. At home I mistakenly assumed that I could stay overnight. When I arrived to the Seminary on Sunday evening, the priest in charge was waiting for me. A disciplinary action order was also waiting for me. He told me that, for the approaching holy week, I would not be allowed to go to the parish my bishop would assign me. Instead I was to stay at the Seminary and join the other seminarians who would remain there during holy week. I honestly did not see the sanction as punishment. I actually enjoyed it because I had more free time and was able to play sports, particularly soccer which I loved.

Going back to the reading from Hebrews. God never fails when giving us the appropriate correction we need. Now, I would like to talk about the importance of patience in our daily trials. First of all, patience is important because enduring the trials until the end may allow us to see the intended results God wants from our purification process. The full meaning of any trial is revealed to us only after we have gone through it. Only then will we come to understand the reason why some things happened or why we went to a certain place. The best lessons in life come to us through suffering.

Secondly, and most importantly, patience is important because God knows best. As feeble beings that we are, we do not know the real meaning of life, let alone the enigmatic meaning of suffering. Job is lectured big time in this respect.

Finally, I would like to briefly offer you three ways to grow in patience. Way one: no complaining or swearing. Among human beings, Abraham is a good example for us in this respect. Way two: stop questioning God. Job is the counterexample for us in this respect. Way three: surrender to God’s will. As always, it is our Lord who shines as our model of virtue. The Lord prayed in the garden this way: “Not my will but your will”. 

Let us now turn to our Lord and ask him to give us his grace to strengthen our dropping hands and our weak knees. With him we can endure any discipline God lovingly may give us.