"The Lord was understanding towards His disciples. He had patience with their defects and their less than perfect ways. He did not give up on them. In the years to come these same men would be the pillars of His Church."
Francis Fernandez
For Reflection:
Who do I most need to be patient with today? How does this quote give me the strength and hope to do so?
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"When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, don't try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time."
St. Francis de Sales
For Reflection:
What difficulty or contradiction do I need to "bend with gentleness and time?" Can I exercise the necessary patience to do it?
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"When you are excited to impatience, think for a moment how much more reason God has to be angry with you, than you can have for anger against any human being; and yet how constant is His patience and forbearance."
St. Elizabeth Anne Seton
For Reflection:
For what could God be most angry with me at this moment? Ask for forgiveness and extend His forgiveness to the one you are currently most impatient with.
(See tomorrow's Grace Line for another saint's suggestion to acquire patience.)
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"Restraining my impatience cost me so much that I was bathed in perspiration."
St. Therese of Lisieux
For Reflection:
How consoling to know that the Little Flower struggled so with patience - at least once! Am I willing to "sweat" to acquire this virtue? St. Therese pray for me!
(See tomorrow's Grace Line for one saint's suggestion on how to increase patience.)
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"Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew."
St. Francis de Sales
For Reflection:
Why is practicing patience with ourselves a good way to learn to be patient with others? How can I begin anew today to set about remedying my own imperfections?
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"Only the strong man can exercise living patience, can take upon himself again and again the things that are; only he can always begin anew. Patience without strength is mere passivity, dull acceptance, growing accustomed to being a mere thing."
Romano Guardini
For Reflection:
What characteristic marks a patient person? Why? Do I see myself as this kind of a person? Why or why not?
(See tomorrow's Grace Line for encouragement if you feel you fall short.)
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"We can resist or change many things according to our wishes; but basically we must accept what comes and is given to us. To understand this and to act accordingly is patience. Anyone who is unwilling to do this is in constant conflict with his own existence."
Romano Guardini
For Reflection:
To what extent do I accept what comes and is given to me? How can I bring myself into conformity with the permissive will of God?
(See tomorrow's Grace Line by Father Guardini to discover the characteristics of a patient person.)
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"In this existence in time and finiteness, we constantly find the tension between what man is and what he would like to be; between that which has been realized and that which remains to be accomplished. And it is patience which endures the tension."
Romano Guardini
For Reflection:
According to Father Guardini's definition of "tension," what is my current one? How well am I enduring it with patience?
(Read tomorrow's Grace Line for another insight on patience by Father Guardini.)
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"Patient endurance attains to all things. The one who possesses God is lacking in nothing; God alone is enough."
Teresa of Avila
For Reflection:
Could the cause of my current impatience be a deficiency in the things of God? How can I begin to rectify this today?
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"God is a farmer, and if He abandons man, man becomes a desert. Man is also a farmer and if he leaves God, he turns himself into a desert as well."
St. Augustine
For Reflection:
How have I seen the truth of these words? Am I contemplating "abandoning God" in any way? I will pray for the virtue of patience to remain steadfast lest my soul become a wasteland.
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