4th Fruit: Patience

INTRODUCTION (You can skip this if you are already following the Fruits of the Holy Spirit series.) We continue our mini-meditations on the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul’s letter to the Galatians lists nine of them: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, drawing on other biblical teachings, include four additional fruits: generosity, gentleness, modesty and chastity. (CCC #1832) The added four emphasize aspects of the original nine; generosity, for example, would likely be included in teachings on love, gentleness with kindness, and chastity and modesty with self-control.

An easy way to understand the Fruits of the Spirit are to think of them as seeds of habits that we will need to live in heaven. The Holy Spirit plants them inside us, and if we tend to them like we would any plant or tree, they will grow and produce fruit, the spiritual kind.

We will follow the traditional lectio divina prayer form: reading, meditation, talk (pray), and contemplation.

READ the commentary and passage.

PATIENCE is the ability to bear trials without grumbling. It’s treating others with tolerance and thoughtfulness. It’s resisting the temptation to complain about unpleasant situations. It’s resisting the temptation to deny mercy to people who have sinned against us or who simply frustrate us with their pecularities or longstanding needs.

PATIENCE is sometimes called “longsuffering” and “forbearance”. Both words tell us about its meaning. PATIENCE is suffering, for a long period of time, the provocations of others. The length of “long time” will vary, of course, on the nature of the incident. Some irritations are infrequent and short-lived, like when someone bumps you and spills your drink on the floor, or steals a place in the front of the line. Some are infrequent but have longer consequences, like a careless person who bumps you, causing you to fall and break a bone. Some are frequent and longstanding, like a family member with special needs who eats very slowly. Or a lonely aunt who makes it difficult to end a phone conversation. Or someone who angers you or picks on you. You show PATIENCE when you just let it go and maintain your self control.

“Forbearance” tells us that PATIENCE requires us to bear, that is, to carry on, despite troublesome actions by our neighbors. We are to remain steadfast in our temperment and not lash out at the person who is annoying us, angering us, or is in some way making it difficult for us to be in the same place with him or her. The Holy Spirit empowers us to handle these challenging situations with mercy, with love.

But be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whnever any of you has a complaint against someone else. You must forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you. (St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians 3:13)

READ it a second time and notice what word, phrase, image, or emotion stuck out to you.

MEDITATE: Read the passage a third time. Then pause and ponder. What message does God seem to be sending you? Is He addressing your relationship with Him or with others? Is He advising you, or challenging you, or comforting you?

PRAY: Read the passage again. What is your response to God? What do you want to tell Him? How you feel? That you are sorry? Grateful? Worried? Thankful? Take the time to say all you have to say. Make it an honest prayer.

CONTEMPLATE: Read the passage one more time. Then sit quietly in God’s presence.

Thank you for praying with us. Please feel welcome to leave comments. You never know when someone will benefit greatly from what you say and your particular way of saying it. I’m praying for you.