Waiting Patiently in Hope

Homily: Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Matthew 13:24-43

19 July 2020

At the onset of this pandemic, I was immensely baffled by an image on the news of people in the supermarket actually fighting over rolls of toilet paper! Grocery shelves for tissue paper, alcohol, bleach and disinfectant sprays were empty. Surgical face masks and PPEs were traded like gold! Sadly, it’s not just material goods that continue to be in short supply. We are seeing online videos of people blowing their top, throwing tantrums and losing their temper over the slightest provocations. I can only shake my head. 

Our lack of patience has never been so manifest as at this time. Standing in line to enter the supermarket or the bank is an exercise in self-restraint. Gone are the express lanes and priority counters. We must bear with shoppers with overflowing carts and clients with multiple transactions.  Many of us have led fast-paced lives, enjoy fibre internet service, and have grown accustomed to instant downloads and guaranteed day-later package deliveries. As society grinds to a halt and restarts ever so slowly, we grit our teeth and pull our hair out. Ordering online has become a growing habit because we are forced to stay home. We tend to patronize vendors who can promise same day service because they fill our needs faster. You can imagine why people struggle with prayer when they do not get what they pray for right away. These days, I can envision all the petitions for a cure, for protection, for healing that reach heaven. I also perceive all the doubt, the grumbling and anger that mounts when suffering is brought upon us and our loved ones. 

We also have a tendency to be impatient with ourselves. Even before the pandemic, it is not unusual for young people to feel pressured to be achievers so early on in life. We get so disappointed with our failures and inadequacies that depression has become commonplace in our societies. We want to rid ourselves of the disappointing or messy parts of our lives not realizing that this may be God’s way of giving us the chance to learn, develop, grow stronger and wiser.

These days, the mere exercise of self-quarantine when warranted is almost unthinkable! We can barely manage to be alone with ourselves in a confined space and prohibited from going about our normal activities. We forget that we are not the only ones at play. We are essentially interdependent and, in this mix, there are things that will always be beyond our control. We should be patient with ourselves and realize that we cannot afford to be selfish because our decisions inadvertently affect others. 

Patience takes a lot of effort, discipline and grace. It already proves difficult under normal circumstances — let alone during a pandemic. This Sunday’s readings show us how patience is a divine attribute. The passage from the Book of Wisdom personifies the Almighty God as all powerful but One who governs His people with leniency and judges them with clemency. As Psalm 86 declares before the nations: “You, O Lord are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and fidelity.” (Psalm 86:15) If we identify as His children, should we not take it upon ourselves to follow His example? 

To be sure, God has more reason to be impatient with us, given that we constantly fall from grace and commit the same mistakes repeatedly. How blessed we are then that the power of God is manifested not in the destruction of the sinner but rather in the salvation of the repentant.  “And you taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; and you gave your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.” (Wisdom 12:19) In the parable the slaves of the master were disheartened by the simultaneous growth of both wheat and weeds in the field and wanted to immediately rid the field of the weeds. On the other hand, the master demonstrates patience and leniency leaving room for the weeds to grow alongside the wheat, wary that the crop may be pulled up together with the weeds. Jesus teaches us that God is extreme in his patience and that He offers every chance for His people to flourish. Instead of condemnation He desires repentance and wants to gather all the scattered children into the one community of God’s people. 

For those of us who are short tempered and anxiety ridden, Jesus reminds us to respect the process of growth as it entails time and grace — things cannot be rushed. We are all quite restless to reclaim our pre-Covid pandemic life situation. But as we slowly come to realize, life will never be the same. We will just learn to adapt. The process may be long and arduous so we simply have to learn to wait… and to do so patiently. We have been immersed long enough in a global culture of instant gratification and fear that we are losing time that we no longer have the ability to defer the satisfaction of our desires and endure the least bit of suffering. This pandemic has forced us to surrender our cares and anxieties to Him and trust that He has everything under control. 

We are half way through the month of July. In about a month and a half’s time, we expect to hear Jose Mari Chan start singing the all-time favourite “Christmas In Our Hearts”. The same time last year everyone would have been anticipating Christmas. This year, we are all anticipating the vaccine. Until then, we have to fortify our tolerance to make this period bearable for everyone. We are suffering through this together, after all. Let us pray for strength from the Holy Spirit to be able to endure all of life’s setbacks with patience and hope. Let us learn to treat ourselves and each other kindly just as God graciously treats us, His children. Finally, let us have faith in the power of God and His divine timing. Let us trust that in His mercy we will all be transformed into the persons God intends us to be… in His perfect time.