We must have great patience with God because he “also has a lot of patience with us”, Pope Francis said at Mass this morning.
Reflecting on today’s reading from Genesis, in which God appears to Abraham when he is aged 99, the Pope said: “The Lord always chooses His way to enter into our lives. Often He does so slowly, so much so, we are in danger of losing our ‘patience’ a little. ‘But Lord, when?’ And we pray, we pray … And He doesn’t intervene in our lives.
“Other times, when we think of what the Lord has promised us, that it such a huge thing, we don’t believe it. We are a little sceptical, like Abraham – and we smile a little to ourselves… This is what it says in the first reading: Abraham hid his face and smiled… A bit of scepticism: ‘What? Me? I am almost 100 years old. I will have a son and my wife at 90 will have a son?'”
According to Vatican Radio, he continued: “The Lord takes his time. But even He, in this relationship with us, has a lot of patience. Not only do we have to have patience: He has! He waits for us! And He waits for us until the end of life! Think of the good thief, right at the end, at the very end, he acknowledged God. The Lord walks with us, but often does not reveal Himself, as in the case of the disciples of Emmaus.
“The Lord is involved in our lives – that’s for sure! But often we do not see. This demands our patience. But the Lord who walks with us. He also has a lot of patience with us.”
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