Jesus’ Patience

Today’s Gospel: And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennes'aret, and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him, 55 and ran about the whole neighborhood and began to bring sick people on their pallets to any place where they heard he was. 56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or country, they laid the sick in the market places, and besought him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well. Mark 6:53-56

Reflection:  God’s patience verses human patience.  We are often impatient with others; the actions of our brothers and sisters.  At a macro level we are fed up with corruption and evil that besets us in society. At our ordinary level we are impatient with our brothers and sisters or children or parents and want them to change.  

Not that we are perfect but we expect that perfection from others.  The father of the household may want his children not to speak a lie or be false while he himself may be corrupt in his ways. There may be some in the hierarchy too who may want to fight corruption in government while it may be loose in its morals and corrupt in its action, unfaithful to the specific callings of the master.

In the Gospel reading I am fascinated by the patience of Jesus who is capable of reaching the far corners of the earth in a jiffy and yet restrictive in all patience with our time and place and people who bring the sick to him from every corner and places.

 Patience is an action of love and is not the same as tolerance. One may tolerate an evil because the opposition is formidable and it maybe blindly looked upon as virtue but a Christian cannot be patient with evil, fake and false prophets. (Rev. 2:2)   

But “to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.”  Rom 2:7

Prayer: Lord in your mercy grant me the wisdom and grace to be patient, especially with my brothers and sisters who love you and seek to earnestly follow you.

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