Divine Patience
Divine Patience sounds like a rather tall order, doesn’t it? We know that Jesus tells us: “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) It follows that we should also be patient, as our heavenly Father is patient. I can’t help but think of the old saying “To err is human, to forgive divine.” Patience is likewise divine, and we mere humans, well, we tend to be very impatient.
And on this Second Sunday of Advent, the Mass readings remind us that God is, indeed, patient. In today’s second reading, for instance, St. Peter advises
Do not ignore this one fact, beloved,
that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years
and a thousand years like one day.
The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,”
but he is patient with you,
not wishing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:8-9)
The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,” but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:8-9)
The Scoffers
We get a broader view of just how patient our Father is if we consider the part of St. Peter’s letter that immediately precedes what we hear at Mass today. We learn that he is not only willing to wait a long, long, long time, but He is also willing to put up with a lot of nonsense from us. For a long time . . . but not forever . . .
First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:3-4)
St. Peter’s scoffers are certainly with us today. “All things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation,” as if this somehow shows that the Creator won’t, or can’t, do something different. Or even as if, somehow, the fact that the world has continued on its course for a long, long time means that there is no creator. St. Peter will have none of it:
They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago, and an earth formed out of water and by means of water, through which the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. (2 Peter 3:5-6)
At the Beginning and Along the Way
God was there at the beginning, and there all along the way. And while it may seem possible to ignore the Creator now, that will not always be the case:
But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:7)
This is the lead-up to today’s reading, and why we should thank God for His patience. He gives us lots of time because He is
not wishing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
He gives us the Grace to repent, but it’s up to us. That is one of the meanings of the Season of Advent: we don’t just await the coming of the Christ Child in the manger at Bethlehem. We are also waiting for his coming again at the end of time. Patience will be rewarded. Let’s get ready.
