Patience is a Virtue

                               Photo courtesy of www.doliwa-artphoto.com

May 20, 2013

Patience is a Virtue

I just had a conversation with my eldest who is 5 years old at nine o’ clock in the morning.  He kept on bugging me if he could already play the IPAD to which I replied he must wait. Call it persistence as he still kept on asking. Then I told him, “My son, you must learn how to wait if you want something.  Patience is a virtue.” Then he looked at me as if he understood, or most probably he just wanted to get back to the show he was watching at that time.

A few moments later, my patience was being tested. I’ve asked my household staff to do a certain chore to which I hoped she would have done more carefully. I tried to correct her as nicely as I could but I knew she could sense my irritability and I felt that my remarks had a little sarcasm of which I immediately felt bad about.

My morning had just started and it was a struggle to just be happy. Again, in my desire to seek perfection in the things I do, I tend to be uptight. Today, I’ve been reminded that patience is truly a virtue, which I must continually seek. ,To me, being patient is waiting for something I desire to be fulfilled in God’s time and being compassionate and understanding while waiting for things to naturally unfold in my life.

As I end this post, I am drawn to watch EWTN and the Mass is about to start. Talk about God's perfect timing! His Word for today talks about PATIENCE, and that it is a VIRTUE.  It comes from a root word meaning "to suffer". In our world where we want things to happen, when and how for these to happen, we are being reminded that we must TRUST and HOPE in the Lord. He knows the desires of our hearts and in own His perfect time, He will fulfill these. However, we must prepare to suffer for the journey to acquiring virtue is no easy feat.

(Sirach 2:1-11) 
(Psalm 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40)
(St. mark 9:30-37)

Pause and Ponder

Photo courtesy of  www.dholidays.net

May 20, 2013

We have so many things to be thankful for and yet, many times, we take these for granted. Our mind is so preoccupied with the things that we desire for ourselves and for our families. Not that they are not good. In fact, most of these longings are with noble intentions. However, by focusing on what we want yet to have in our lives, we miss to see the beauty in the things that we do now have. We lose sight of the things that matter most to us.

In our desire to be perfect in our ways and as we project this perfection to those around us, it is easy to forget about compassion. We catch ourselves being right all the time, when we can choose to be kind.  Looking back on how our day has been spent, do we reminisce the laughter and joy in our household? Or do we remember the criticism and the ill-tempered manner we have shown to each other because one has failed the other, one way or another?

May today be a day filled with love, joy, and laughter. May today be an opportunity for us to pause and think about all the things we can be grateful for. May today be that moment when we can truly live the lives we were meant to live.