Be Patient but Do the Work

By: Rick Hernandez

“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not, you can cut it down.’” (Luke 3:6-9)

What do we know of patience? Thomas Aquinas defines patience as “a virtue attached to the virtue of fortitude, which hinders a man from departing from right reason illumined by faith by yielding to difficulties and to sadness.”
 
We tend to think of patience as passive, as in not reacting to a situation, but from the definition, we can see that it is an action. Patience is an exercise of the cardinal virtue of fortitude. We are meant to practice our patience actively and consciously. Its practice is a fruit that comes from our malleability to God’s will. This malleability to God’s will is called Divine Conformity and is the practice of conforming to the will of God in all things. 

“The fruit of this divine conformity is first of all patience, an even-tempered disposition, and inner peace, followed by strong and generous action. A soul that wants to live in God begins by consulting his holy Will; it hesitates to begin by consulting its own heart or its own judgment. It mistrusts them. For this soul, the known will of God is its supreme law, its unchangeable rule, and its first science.” (Saint Peter Julian Eymard – Letter to Mrs. Natalie Jordan - January 22, 1852)

Father Eymard tells us that patience comes first, but then, together with humility, we are meant to grow into a model of reparation, a model of action.

“After everything is over, humility says: I am not a model of sweetness, but let us be a model of patience and sometimes of reparation. Know that some thorns are more useful than some flowers” (Saint Peter Julian Eymard – Letter to Mrs. Antoinette de Grandville - August 7, 1864)

We are to be an earthly model of God’s grace. We do this by patiently doing our daily chores here, simply, yet consciously and orderly.  And we do our work for the Kingdom within the actions of our everyday life, in obedience and with as much love as we can muster.

“[Dedicate] yourself to everything in a spirit of simplicity, that is, to do things in a spirit of interior freedom, clinging to them only insofar as God wants and as long as he wants; in a spirit of peace, doing things in an orderly manner, one after the other, with moderation and patience; working to do things well, but not to get rid of them. Let your model be a child, who does everything through obedience and whose life is not bound by anything.” (Saint Peter Julian Eymard – Letter to Ms. Stéphanie Gourd - March 16, 1866)

We are called by our Lord to experience the greatness of His love for us, and we need to bear fruit from our relationship with God. With patience, love, and perseverance, we grow closer to that model of God’s grace that Father Eymard mentions. With love, we bear each other, and we must do it with patience. This does not mean to just wait passively, but to live God’s love for us in action. We strive to do the work of love and mercy in the world well, simply, humbly, and full of love for God and our brothers. We do give back what we receive. This is part of our Eucharistic life.  Let us continue to grow in patience, but do our work. May we persevere on this road to Heaven.

Rick Hernandez

Rick Hernandez is a commonsense Catholic, Lay Associate of the Blessed Sacrament, and a Director for Elisheba House. He lives in Trinity, Florida, with his wife Ivonne and their children. He also writes for the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament's Daily Eucharistic Reflections and for Catholicmom.com.