On the Third Sunday of Advent this year, many of us heard a reading from the Letter of James:<\/p>\n
Be patient, brothers and sisters,
\nuntil the coming of the Lord.
\nSee how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth,
\nbeing patient with it
\nuntil it receives the early and the late rains.
\nYou too must be patient.
\nMake your hearts firm,
\nbecause the coming of the Lord is at hand.
\nDo not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another,
\nthat you may not be judged.
\nBehold, the Judge is standing before the gates.
\nTake as an example of hardship and patience, brothers and sisters,
\nthe prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.<\/p>\n
Patience, of course, is associated with the season of Advent whether it is eagerness for Santa on the part of the very young or a more mature pondering of the coming of the Son into the world.\u00a0 In a culture in which Christmas sales can begin around Halloween (or even earlier), the practice of patience can be a challenge as again and again Christians seek to resist the commercialization of the feast, with Pope Francis warning this year that materialistic \u201cworldliness has kidnapped Christmas\u201d (Christmas Eve homily).<\/p>\n
Christmas Day 2016 is now in the past.\u00a0 If we have managed to celebrate a non-kidnapped Christmas, good for us.\u00a0 But if we have managed to celebrate a non-kidnapped Christmas (or even if we have been less than successful in this regard), the need for patience persists.\u00a0 Patience, one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1832) is a trait for all of the Christian life and one to which our liturgies always summon us.\u00a0 Worship of God always invites us to have the mind of Christ, to take up his self-offering love and make it real and effective in our lives.\u00a0 \u201cBy living with the mind of Christ, Christians hasten the coming of the Reign of God, \u2018a kingdom of justice, love, and peace.\u2019\u00a0 They do not, for all that, abandon their earthly tasks; faithful to their master, they fulfill them with uprightness, patience and love\u201d (CCC, no. 2046).<\/p>\n
Patience is not a substitute for the pursuit of justice and compassion in the world.\u00a0 It is a complement to that pursuit, borne up always by the gracious God who seeks to bring to completion the good work that he has begun.\u00a0 May our worship always sustain us in this pursuit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Patience is not a substitute for the pursuit of justice and compassion in the world. It is a complement to that pursuit, borne up always by the gracious God who seeks to bring to completion the good work that he has begun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[91,3053],"tags":[3069],"class_list":["post-35231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-liturgical-year","category-liturgy-and-virtue","tag-advent-patience"],"yoast_head":"\n