152. Fifth Saturday of Easter
Meditations no. 198 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
We have to learn to wait, being patient with ourselves and with others.
Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient until it receives the early and the late rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
We are working for fruits of holiness in ourselves and all souls. When God wills, he sends a shower of graces, and then we gather a bountiful harvest. We should pray and work hard, but at the same time we need patience, because no man, whether he be a Christian or not, has an easy life. To be sure, at certain times it seems as though everything goes as we had planned. But this generally lasts for only a short time. Life is a matter of facing up to difficulties and of experiencing in our hearts both joy and sorrow. It is in this forge that man can acquire fortitude, patience, magnanimity and composure.
Patience is part of the cardinal virtue of fortitude. The man who knows how to be strong will not be in a hurry to receive the reward of his virtue. He is patient. There should be no trace of anxiety even in our desires to improve or to be effective: being impatient over good things is also bad. It would be wrong to lose patience because we did not immediately obtain what we wanted, or to lament what we saw as the sterility of the Holy Spiritâs daily sanctifying action in our soul. God is sure of where he is leading us, and he will let us know of our interior progress whenever and however he pleases.
Souls take time to reach holiness, and God has infinite patience with them: he forgives them, bestows his grace upon them, and constantly encourages them. We should likewise be patient with ourselves and with others, even if this may sometimes be difficult.
Our Father tells us: May we always be serene. If we are pious and sincere, there will be no lasting sorrows, and all those other sorrows which we sometimes invent will disappear, because they are not at all objective. We will live joyfully and peacefully in the arms of Godâs Mother, like her little children, which we truly are. Once in a while, we all have in our inner world some small problem which our pride manages to magnify, in order to make us lose our peace of mind. Donât pay attention to these trivialities. Say instead: I am a sinner who loves Jesus Christ.
Serenity: seeing things in the light of eternity; being specific; applying remedies in charity and patience.
We have to be strong and patient and, therefore, calm and composed, but not with the composure of the man who buys his own tranquillity at the expense of ignoring his brothers, or neglecting the great task (which falls to us all) of tirelessly spreading good throughout the world. We can keep calm because there is always forgiveness and because there is a solution for everything, except death; and for the children of God, death is life. We must try to keep our peace, even if only so as to act intelligently, since the man who remains calm is able to think, to study the pros and cons, and to assess judiciously the outcome of the actions he is about to undertake. He then plays his part calmly and decisively.
To keep calm, we need to see things in the light of eternity, as our Father recommended. You are upset. Look: come what may in your interior life or in the world around you, never forget that the importance of events or people is very relative. Take things calmly. Let time pass. And then, as you view people and events dispassionately and from afar, youâll acquire the perspective that will enable you to see each thing in its proper place and in its true proportion.
If you do this, youâll be more objective, and youâll be spared many a cause of anxiety.
God governs everything: the tiniest leaf does not move without his wanting it to. And even bad things are permitted by God so that he can bring good from them. To remain at peace always, we need to see things as God sees them. But you must see things with the eyes of eternity, âkeeping in the presentâ what has passed and what has yet to come.
Our Father insists: Be optimistic. St Paul himself, in the Epistle to the Philippians, tells us, Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico: gaudete. Always be happy in the Lord; I repeat, be happy. My daughters and sons, see the positive aspect of things. What may seem very terrible in life is not that black after all. If you are specific, you will not arrive at pessimistic conclusions. Just as a good doctor, upon seeing a patient, does not tell him that his whole system has decayed, I beg you, for love of Jesus Christ, to have confidence. Donât state the bad side of things without giving the opposite side as well. Someone who is ill is not yet a corpse ready for the cemetery. Let us cure him, by giving the right medicines. Within the spirit of the Work we have all the remedies to hand.
What we should do is learn to apply these remedies with charity and patient constancy; otherwise they will not produce their proper effects. Charity, St Cyprian tells us, is the guarantee of fraternity, the foundation of peace, the firm bond which gives strength to unity; it is superior to hope and faith, surpassing both almsgiving and martyrdom; it is what will remain with us in heaven for ever. But take away patience, and charity will be reduced to ruins. True charity does not exist without patience. However, when these two virtues are present, everything can be lovingly endured.
Patience in the apostolate.
We should be patient in our interior life, our activities and our apostolate. Our Founder writes: I understand your holy impatience, but at the same time you must realize that there are some who need to think things over, and others who will respond all in good time. Wait for them with open arms. Add the spice of abundant prayer and mortification to your holy impatience. They will be more youthful and generous when they come. They will have got rid of their bourgeois approach, and they will be all the more courageous.
Think how God is waiting for them!
We have to do St Raphael and St Gabriel apostolate with enthusiasm, effort, dedication and constancy. This is all we can contribute, for the fruits come from God. I planted, Apollo watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. God gives interior growth, the grace that makes souls mature. We do not want green, unripe fruits. Impatience is an enemy of the apostolate.
Our Father forewarns us: Control your impatience, seek new vocations calmly, slowly, at Godâs pace⌠But no matter what, never leave this task! At Godâs pace: we are not doing our own apostolate, but that of Jesus Christ. We are not seeking anything for ourselves, but only Godâs glory. We have to be ready to work for a lifetime without seeing the fruits, if that is what God wants. Other brothers and sisters of ours will be the ones to reap the fruits, because at times it happens that one sows and another reaps.
We should never lose patience, which brings with it composure, dignity, peace and effectiveness. God marks out the pace of sanctification for each soul. Rest assured: when you work for God, there are no difficulties that cannot be overcome, nor discouragements that will make you abandon the task, nor failures worthy of the name, however unfruitful the results may seem.
Our Blessed Lady, our Mother Mary, loves us so much that despite our persistent defects, she never ceases to intercede for us, her children. With motherly and effective patience, she pleads for us untiringly before God. Recordare, Virgo Mater Dei, dum steteris in conspectu Domini, ut loquaris pro nobis bona, remember, Virgin Mother of God, as you stand in the Lordâs sight, to say good things on our behalf.