In spiritual direction a few weeks ago, these are the two virtues that the priest told me to pray for - patience and obedience. As I reflected on these virtues, I was struck by the relationship between them, how patience makes obedience sweet, and obedience makes patience easy.
It seems like patience is one of those virtues that everyone is constantly striving for and praying for. I'm sure we all know what it's like to pray for patience - or not to pray for it. I have sometimes been told not to pray for it because then the Lord gives you opportunities to use it, and it tests your patience! It's like cute sayings that say "Lord, give me patience - but hurry!" I guess it's pretty common knowledge that patience in learned through suffering. If we learn to suffer well, we learn to be patient well. Anyone can suffer, but it takes patience (and obedience) to suffer well. As one of the ten virtues of Mary, our Blessed Mother, the virtue of patience is referred to as heroic patience. This is such an apt adjective to use in describing this virtue. When we exercise patience we exercise discipline and control over our desires, sanctifying them by humbly acknowledging our dependence on God and our need for His will, our need for obedience in faith. In his commencement address to the Catholic University of America, Timothy Cardinal Dolan said, "Patience is 'not the diposition to wait for what you want,' but rather 'the disposition to await God's grace.'" The Cardinal goes on to say that "Patience is the ground that virtue grows in." I found these words to be so illuminating to the stage of life that I find myself in at this time. I know what I desire, and I believe with all my heart that it is what God is calling me to. As I continue my discernment of religious life, I daily pray for the desire to desire what God desires for me, to want what He wants, not what I want. As I pray for this, I realize that I am called to await His grace. I want religious life, and sometimes I want it now, but that is not what this is about. It is about God's will and letting the Lord prepare my heart for the graces He has for me in this vocation. His timing is perfect , and as I develop this patience, I also grow in the virtue of obedience, obedience to His call minute by minute. It is good for me to develop this virtue now as soon (I hope! There I go being impatient...), I will take a vow of obedience to Christ, His Church, and my lawful superiors and His representatives here on earth. I must strive every day even now to put my own desires aside and to await the action of His grace. This waiting is not passive or lazy, but it is a daily choice and act of the will, a close link between patience and obedience.
St. Alphonsus Liguori says that "Mortification, meditation, receiving Holy Communion, acts of fraternal charity are all certainly pleasing to God - but only when they are in accordance with his will (Uniformity With God's Will, 7)." One time St. Faustina received some oranges during Lent. She asked herself, "Should I eat the oranges instead of doing penance and mortifying myself during Holy Lent?..." Then she heard a voice in her soul, "My daughter, you please Me more by eating the oranges out obedience and love of Me than by fasting and mortifying yourself of your own will..." (Diary 1023) These aspects of obedience have always struck me profoundly. So often I can find myself thinking of obedience in the negative, as in not getting something that I want or giving something up. These two saints, however, show us that this is not what obedience is at all! Obedience to God's will frees us to love, to serve, and to use the graces and gifts He has given us for the good of both ourselves and others. It frees us to be the best versions of ourselves! It frees us to practice moderation, yet to relish in the countless gifts He pours out on us daily! As another of the ten virtues of Mary, obedience is described as blind obedience. One of the best examples of this in Our Lady's life can be seen at the Annunciation. The Angel Gabriel comes to her and tells her that she will conceive and bear a Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. She responds in all humility, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). Mary says yes - Fiat. She commits herself in trust to God, knowing that whatever He wills for her will be best for her, not knowing all that lies in the future, but awaiting God's grace. When the Holy Spirit overshadows her she becomes impregnated with life, with grace and with Love Himself! How much we can learn from Our Blessed Mother! This sacrifice of obedience, this sacrifice of her will, is the sacrifice God desires of each of us. St. Alphonsus tells us "...perfect love of God means the complete union of our will with God's." St. Paul tells us that "Although he was a Son, he [Christ] learned obedience through what he suffered, and being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him" (Hebrews 5: 8,9). Christ learns obedience from what He suffers, but obedience is not about suffering, it is about love and salvation! It is about being the instrument of the Father to help bring about the salvation of our brothers and sisters!
Christ is obedient to His Father because He loves, and so must we be. The more we unite our will to the Father's by growing in patience and obedience, the greater will be our love. Only God knows the amazing things He can do and the fruit we will bear when we are that docile to His Spirit. We may not ever see the fruits in this world, but being faithful is enough. Mother Teresa said, "God doesn't call us to be successful, he calls us to be faithful." As we celebrate the feast of Pentecost this Sunday, let us pray with all our hearts, "Come, Holy Spirit! Enkindle in us the fire of Your Love!"
Written by Kristen
