Street of First Doctrine
38. What Is Patience?
Street of First Doctrine: first Catholic doctrine for souls learning how to believe, pray, and live.
"In your you shall possess your souls." - Luke 21:19
is the by which the soul bears suffering, delay, contradiction, weakness, and trial without rebellion against God. A beginner must learn because the Christian life always passes under the Cross.
The catechism answer is simple: is the that helps us endure suffering and difficulty with trust in God, without anger, despair, murmuring, or sinful escape.
is not indifference. It is faithful endurance under Providence.
The question is not, "How can I avoid every cross?" It is, "How should I carry the cross God permits?"
Some suffering should be remedied if it can be remedied . Illness may be treated. Injustice may be opposed. Duties may require action. But even when action is required, the soul must not rebel against God.
keeps suffering from becoming sin.
Our Lord is the perfect pattern of . He was betrayed, mocked, scourged, crowned with thorns, condemned, and crucified, yet He remained obedient to the Father.
He did not love suffering for its own sake. He loved the Father and loved souls through suffering.
The soul learns at the foot of the Cross.
is often tested by small contradictions: delays, noise, tiredness, sickness, misunderstanding, repeated duties, difficult people, weather, weakness, and plans interrupted.
The soul may imagine it would be faithful in martyrdom while becoming angry over a small inconvenience.
Small trials reveal the state of the heart.
Murmuring is resentful complaint against God's providence, duty, , or the burdens permitted in life. It weakens trust and spreads bitterness.
This does not mean every honest expression of suffering is sinful. The Psalms cry to God in distress. But murmuring complains without surrender.
The soul can say, "Lord, help me," without saying, "Lord, Thou hast wronged me."
with others is a work of . Family members, neighbors, children, the sick, the old, the weak, and the difficult may all require love.
does not excuse sin or remove the need for correction. But correction given without often becomes harsh, , or useless.
bears burdens without surrendering truth.
The soul also needs with its own weakness. This does not mean excusing sin. It means repenting, confessing, amending, and continuing without despair.
Some defects are overcome slowly. Some wounds require long healing. Some habits require repeated battle.
Impatience with oneself often hides : the soul is angry that it is not already strong.
Suffering can be offered to God in union with Christ. A sickbed, humiliation, loneliness, weariness, or hidden sacrifice may become prayer when accepted with faith and love.
The Christian should say, "Lord, I offer this with Thee. Make it fruitful."
Nothing offered to God is wasted.
The soul must learn that crosses will come.
The soul must learn to endure without rebellion.
The soul must learn the difference between honest lament and murmuring.
The soul must learn with others and with its own weakness.
The soul must learn to offer suffering with Christ.
is the that helps us endure suffering and difficulty with trust in God, without anger, despair, murmuring, or sinful escape.
A beginner should ask: What small trials make me lose peace? Do I murmur? Do I correct others without ? Do I become discouraged by slow progress? Do I offer suffering to God?
keeps the soul beneath the Cross without fleeing. It teaches the Christian to suffer with Christ and to wait for God.