By Anthony Jayaraj csc –
Readings: Gal 3: 1-5; Lk 11: 5-13
Today, I am challenged by the Gospel passage which speaks about the need to develop the virtue of ‘perseverance’. I recall those moments wherein I gave up on people, relationships, good habits, and skills that were desirable.
Due to various factors such as fear, uncertainty, laziness, and difficulties, I have failed the essence of this virtue in my life. Perseverance goes beyond what seems to be tough, unusual, and uncertain. Great people like St. Monica who persevered in prayer for her son, Blessed Basil Moreau who knocked at the tabernacle door, Mother Teresa who found Jesus in the poor and the destitute, and others such as Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, B. R. Ambedkar and Albert Einstein have shown to the world the power of faith culminated in the virtue of ‘perseverance’.
As a seminarian, amidst this pandemic situation of uncertainty and fear, Jesus is teaching me through the Gospel to persevere in life with faith to ask again and again, and knock at the doors to be with the Holy Spirit who dwells in me. With Jesus, it is neither difficult or demanding nor tiresome to learn, practice, and live by the virtue of ‘perseverance’ in life.