God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen Author Unknown
Lord, may it please you to rescue me; look upon me and help me. “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
How many times do we ask for forgiveness…in a day? We are all sinners. I hope to be worthy of heaven, but seriously, I don’t think I deserve it. What is beautiful about our faith is that no matter the number of times we let God down, we know He stands patiently waiting in the confessional for us to ask forgiveness. God eternally waits for the day we are in full communion with Him and never pushing or nagging for us to make amends.
I didn’t speak to Him for a couple of years, yet here I am. As our loving father, He stands with arms wide open for the return of His prodigal daughters. As I mentioned before, though, we are sinners and, I in particular, need help. There is no way I will ever have the right state of mind to return to our Lord, repeatedly, and strive to stay in His grace. That is where the Holy Spirit enters.
The catechism of the Catholic Church states: “By this power of the Spirit, God’s children can bear much fruit. ‘We live by the Spirit’; the more we renounce ourselves, the more we ‘walk by the Spirit.’”
The way to understand this is to think of the Trinity. God is patiently waiting for our full communion. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit is patiently guiding us towards that communion with God. Since we are ultimately made in the likeness of God, and are ultimately following the Spirit, we begin to emulate that patience moving forward. We know we will repeatedly falter, yet we develop the patience to keep trying. We now are patiently waiting for the fulfillment of God’s will while He patiently waits for the fulfillment of His will.
That truly is a lot to take in; a lifetime of practice and failure and growth. In your life, how does the Holy Spirit patiently guide you to a patiently waiting God? Curiously, how has/or has your patience level changed in relation to your faith?
To Jesus Through Mary-Michelle
Image by Alyssa Marie Francis
