Patience

8/15/2020

Step #1: Lectio / Read

Click the link below or open your Bible to the passage and read through the reading at least once, paying attention to what is happening in the text.

Luke 1:39-56

Step #2: Meditatio / Meditate

Use the following meditation to help you reflect more deeply on the Scripture (you may want to read the passage again).

“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

I’m writing this just days after my beloved Toronto Maple Leafs got eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Again. Sometimes it feels like no matter how long I wait, they’re never, ever going to win. In fact, it’s been so long since they won that I wasn’t even alive to see it back in 1967; my parents were still in High School!

Most sports fans have experienced this pain in some form or another, but if you’re not a sports fan you’ve probably had other experiences that took all the patience you had. Maybe High School feels like it’s lasting a lifetime, or somebody you love is far away and you can’t see them right now. These are the times when our patience is really tested, and our trusting in God’s plan can be difficult.

If we falter a bit, we can look to Mary as our example. Today we celebrate the feast of the Assumption of Mary, the moment when Mary receives the reward of her faith and trust in God and is assumed straight into heaven at the end of her life. God gives her this great gift, but there was a lot of patience and suffering that she experienced before she was lifted up to heaven to rejoin Jesus there. In today’s reading, Mary sings: “[The Lord] has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.”

Mary—and all the Jewish people—had been awaiting the Messiah for literally thousands of years! And even after Jesus is born, there are 33 long and hard years before his death and resurrection. Mary witnessed her son beaten and rejected, and yet she patiently waits and trusts in His plan. When things get particularly tough in my life, it’s hard for me to trust that God’s plan is going to work out, and those are the moments when sin tends to creep into my life. I lose my eternal perspective and start thinking about what might make me happy right now, or what might be an easy way out.

I think the Church gave us this feast day to remind us of what is awaiting us when we choose to follow God’s plan instead of our own plan. By celebrating Mary’s assumption into heaven, I’m reminded that I’m destined for the same thing; that God wants me there too, and he’ll give me the grace I need to stay faithful, to practice patience, and to endure suffering well for the sake of his glory.

Next time you run into suffering in your own life, where will you look in order to cope with it? There’s always an easy way out, but if we look to Mary’s example and ask for her help we can find the grace to suffer well, grow in patience, and trust in his plan for our lives here on this earth, but also forever in Heaven.

Step #3: Oratio / Pray

These questions are to be used to talk to God; have a conversation with the Lord about these questions and what is going on in your heart as you pray today.

In what ways are you being called to grow in patience today?

When you experience trial or difficulty, where do you turn to get you through that suffering?

How can Mary be an example and guide to you today – and always – as you seek to live as a disciple of her Son?

Step #4: Contemplatio / Contemplate

In this step, you listen. Stop talking, let God speak to your heart. You may repeat one of these short phrases to focus your mind on the Lord.

"Teach me to be patient."

"Hail Mary, full of grace."

"Jesus, I trust in you."

Step #5: Actio / Act

In light of today's reading and your time spent in prayer with the Lord, what concrete action or actions will you take to let this encounter with the Lord bear fruit in you today?

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The following image is here for you to save and use as a background or lock screen on your smartphone or device to help you carry today's Lectio Divina with you the rest of the day.

Today's Prayer was prepared by Chris O'Hara, an evangelist in Canada.

If you have anything you'd like our team to pray for, please go to the page of our website called "Prayers" and let us know how we can pray for you today.

CARPE VERBUM