Patience can be a virtue in short supply when we are confined or forced to change our daily way of life. It is hard to be patient, for example, waiting for a Corona vaccine to be tried and tested properly. It can be trying to wear a face mask, to be constantly worrying about contagion and hygiene, to wait farther back on a line of people because of social distancing.
A saint who is a powerful example of a person with patience is St. Jane Frances de Chantal whose memorial is celebrated today. Born in France in 1572, she wisely learned to order and manage a feudal household with her husband and their four children. Any parent knows how much patience is needed to raise children.
Jane was widowed at a young age, and even though she had to live with her father-in-law and a testy servant, she maintained a faithful way of life and was even known for her great sanctity. With the help of St. Francis de Sales, she founded the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary which accepted older and infirm women. Despite family troubles and her own spiritual challenges, Jane was patiently generous to the poor that repeatedly came to her door. She lived a virtuous and austere life as she tried to guide those she loved. She even forgave the man who had accidentally killed her husband. Personally, I think it would have been difficult living in St. Jane Frances’ shoes.
Those clumps of impatience that we all experience, that are hard to overcome, can be gradually weeded out with prayer as we gratefully remember God’s patience with us! St. Paul tells us that “Love is patient” (1 Cor 13:4a); and that we should “clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience” (Col 3:12).
We can be encouraged to be patient. The psalmist says in Psalm 40:1, “I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.” Proverbs 14:29 says, “Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but one who has a hasty temper exalts folly.” And Proverbs 15:18 says, “Those who are hot-tempered stir up strife, but those who are slow to anger calm contention.”
It seems logical to conclude that when we are patient, we have God waiting with us; we might gain greater understanding, and we can help to establish a certain calmness to a situation. Whether we are impatient with ourselves, others, or a circumstance, we should remind ourselves that God’s timing is not our timing. We are always in control. Patience comes as fruit of the Holy Spirit, so I try to remember to ask the Spirit for help.
Thank you for your patience, readers. I end with some encouragement from the Letter of James (1:2-4): “My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.
Resources: Catholic Online; Catholic Encyclopedia.
Scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Sharon Krause is a RENEW volunteer whose writing has appeared in several resources for small-group faith sharing. She is a wife, mother, and grandmother residing in Manchester, Connecticut. Over the years, she has served in many parish ministries.