PATIENCE

PATIENCE

 “ Be patient brothers and sisters until the coming of the Lord, as the farmer waits for the crops to experience both the early and the late rains.  You, too, must be patient.”

(Jas: 5:7-10)

If ever there was a time that calls for patience it’s this time of year.  When I look back over my life, especially as a mother, I am amazed at the endless patience God gave me to survive Christmas after Christmas.  I realize that some of the burdens I felt, I put on myself: trying to make everything balance, to make a good impression on family, to set impossible goals. Along with those anxieties, came the unrelenting impatience of the children.  No wonder it was so hard to remember what Christmas is all about.

There are numerous places in Scripture where patience is called for, but none as long-term as waiting for the Messiah.  There were centuries of prophecies foretelling the arrival of Messiah, each one more dramatic than the last.  It was something of an anti-climax when Jesus finally arrived to what can only be described as a seriously lukewarm reception.

After Jesus ascended the waiting began again.  St. Paul encouraged people to live so as to be ready when Jesus came again as though it were imminent. St. Paul can be forgiven for such wishful thinking, since he longed to see Jesus in person. But, as with the Messiah, the time is not predictable since it is God’s time, which cannot be measured by any human formula.

The birth of Jesus is more than the coming of the Messiah.  It is the coming of God to earth, to us.  The mundane environment of the stable, the loneliness of Mary and Joseph and the indifference of the townspeople touches our hearts with its familiarity and makes the event more holy and precious to us.  God came as he said he would. But in a way no one was prepared for. 

The fulfillment of the promise should color our thinking all through the season and beyond.  Patience is called for as we put our trust in God. We should never be impatient with God. God hears our prayers.  As Jesus told us, God knows what you need before you ask.  Christmas should remind us that waiting for God to act is worth the wait, because when he does act, the results are so much better than we could ask for or imagine.

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA