January 28, 2011
Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor of the Church
By Melanie Rigney
You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised. (Hebrews 8:6)
Commit to the Lord your way; trust in him, and he will act. (Psalms 37:5)
(With parables such as that of the mustard seed), he spoke the word to (the crowd) as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private. (Mark 4:33-34)
Piety
Lord, help me to listen when You explain in private the way You’re working in my life.
Study
Endurance, according to an entry in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, is “the ability of a person or thing to continue to perform especially under adverse conditions.” The examples given are a cross-country hike or endurance swimming, both of which can be lonely pursuits.
Endurance is a good word to describe what we need to follow God. It’s a lifelong, grueling marathon of a journey. And while training in community—alongside our families, friends, parishes, group reunions, ultreyas, and others—we spend much of the journey on our own. Because no matter how close we may be to another human being, we don’t always share everything—our worst nightmares, our hopes others would call silly, our dreams even our dearest friends would call unobtainable.
And that’s the beauty of God. He speaks to us in public places in ways we can all understand. We hear His Word at Mass and in conversation with others. We share experiences in small groups and large ones. We carry out His commandments in our ministries and other actions. But at the end of the day, it’s those explanations He provides in private—even when His guidance isn’t to our liking—that give us the strength and faith to keep putting one foot in front of each other.
Action
Ask God for His explanation to a situation that’s been troubling you, one that you haven’t been comfortable taking to anyone, including Him.
