Patience - Perseverance - Endurance
Homily for Wednesday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time
The last word of the Gospel for this Wednesday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time is perhaps the best way to sum up much of the Gospel message as well as the writings of St. Paul. “By your perseverance” or “By your patient endurance you will secure your lives.” Consistency, dependability, patience, and endurance are all words that we would most like others to say about us. When I was active in preaching and in conducting workshops, one of my exercises was to ask people to write the eulogy they would like someone to preach at their funeral. These words, among a host of others, were frequently cited as traits by which they wished to be known. And who could blame them? These words all reflect a strong interior attitude through which people can live a virtuous life.
We are all old enough to realize that it is the very rare individual who gets through this life without running into some hurdles. The only way to overcome those obstacles is through patient endurance, by a persevering spirit.
Revelation describes those who have triumphed as standing around God’s throne singing a hymn of praise and thanksgiving. The last time this reading appeared in the lectionary, I spoke of how I remembered the setting of this hymn that was written by Fr. Lucien Deiss in the latter days of the 1960’s. When I was a seminarian, we used this hymn frequently as our Gospel acclimation. To this day it remains one of my favorites. God’s deeds, God’s Word are constant reminders that with God we can overcome any obstacles that appear in our lives. As St. Paul writes in his Letter to the Philippians: “I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.”
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator
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