Bearing hardship with patience and joy helps spiritual growth

In the Modern Catholic Dictionary, Father John Hardon, SJ, defines patience: “[Patience] enables one to endure present evils without sadness or resentment in conformity with the will of God. Patience is mainly concerned with bearing the evils caused by another.”‌

The three grades of patience are to bear difficulties without interior complaint, to use hardships to make progress in virtue, and even to desire the cross and afflictions out of love for God and to accept them with spiritual joy, writes Father Hardon. 

“Christian virtue is not only a matter of doing good, but of tolerating evil as well,” said St. Augustine. 

When Roman Catholics run into troubling times, they should patiently use them as opportunities to grow in the virtues. 

“When you encounter difficulties and contradictions,” said St. Francis de Sales, “Don’t try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time.” 

Rushing and impatience are hindrances to spiritual growth because God is love, and those who love neither tire nor are irascible, says Pope Francis. 

“God is patient, God knows how to wait,” said Pope Francis in late March this year. 

“Let us think about whether we do this: patiently tolerate troublesome people. It begins by asking to look at them with compassion, with God’s gaze, knowing how to distinguish their faces from their faults. We have the habit of cataloguing people according to the mistakes they make. No, this is not good. Let us seek people by their faces, their heart, and not their mistakes.”‌

Spiritual writer Father Adolphe Tanqueray writes that the true motive which should inspire all Catholics is submission to the will of God and the hope of the eternal reward that will crown our patience. 

“The most potent stimulus is the thought of Christ suffering and dying for us,” wrote Tanqueray. 

Contemplating the sufferings of Jesus Christ during his Passion will instantly render our sufferings sweet and supportable, wrote St. Francis de Sales.

“However sharp our griefs may be they will seem but flowers in comparison with His thorns,” he wrote. 

Friar and preacher St. Vincent Ferrer, OP, a logician, went so far as to write that Christians should not only endure their tribulations and infirmities but accept them joyfully. 

“The Lord sends us tribulation and infirmities to give us the means of paying the immense debts we have contracted with him,” he wrote. 

“Therefore, those who have good sense receive them joyfully, for they think more of the good which they may derive from them than of the pain which they experience on account of them.” 

Life can sometimes seem like paradise and, at other times, like hell on Earth. It is choosing to bear tribulations with patience - or not - which determines how a Catholic will experience life, taught St. Philip Neri, the patron saint of joy. 

“Complain as little as possible of your wrongs, for as a general rule you may be sure that complaining is sin; the rather that self-love always magnifies our injuries: above all, do not complain to people who are easily angered and excited,” advised St. Francis de Sales. 

“If it is needful to complain to someone, either as seeking a remedy for your injury, or in order to soothe your mind, let it be to some calm, gentle spirit, greatly filled with the love of God; for otherwise, instead of relieving your heart, your confidants will only provoke it to still greater disturbance; instead of taking out the thorn which pricks you, they will drive it further into your foot.” 

The worse the tribulation and the harder it is to bear, the greater the need to patiently endure and even embrace it, taught St. Francis. 

“Kiss frequently the crosses which the Lord sends you, and with all your heart, without regarding of what sort they may be; for the more vile and mean they are, the more they deserve their name. 

“The merit of crosses does not consist in their weight, but in the manner in which they are borne,” wrote St. Francis. “It may show much greater virtue to bear a cross of straw than a very hard and heavy one, because the light ones are also the most hidden and contemned, and therefore least comfortable to our inclination, which always seeks what is showy.” 

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以忍耐克服艱難困苦

在《現代天主教字典》中，耶穌會士John Hardon神父對「忍耐」作了定義，並概述了其層次：「[忍耐]使人能夠在遵循天主旨意的情況下，承受當下的凶惡而不感到悲傷或憤恨。忍耐主要是承受他人所帶來的凶惡。」

「忍耐的三個層次是：在內心無怨言地忍受困難；以艱苦用來增進德行；甚至因對天主的愛而渴望背負十字架和承受痛苦，並以神修的喜樂來接受。」

聖奧斯定曾說：「基督徒的德行不僅只在行善，也在於忍受凶惡。」聖方濟·沙雷也說：「當你遇到困難和矛盾時，不要試圖打破它們，而要用溫柔和時間來克服它們。」

教宗方濟各說：「讓我們不要忘記，匆忙和不耐煩是神修生活的敵人。為什麼？因為天主是愛，存於愛中的人不會感到疲憊，也不會易怒；他們不會發出最後通牒。天主是含忍的，祂知道如何等待…。讓我們想一想我們是否也這樣做了：耐心地忍受那些麻煩的人。這開始於祈求以同情心、以天主的眼光來看待他們，知道如何將他們的面貌和他們的過錯分開。我們常習慣根據別人的錯誤來給他們貼標籤。這是不好的。讓我們以人們的臉和心去看他人，而不是看他們的過錯。」

關於忍耐的德行，Adolphe Tanqueray神父寫道：「激勵我們的真正動機應該是順服天主的旨意，以及對永恆獎賞的希望來加冕我們的忍耐。然而，最強大的激勵是想到基督為我們受苦和死亡。」聖方濟·沙雷也說：「當我們遭遇痛苦、試煉或不公待遇時，讓我們把目光轉向我們的主所受的苦難，這將立即使我們的苦難變得甘甜且可支援的。無論我們的痛苦有多劇烈，與祂的茨冠相比，都會顯得如花般輕盈。」

St. Vincent Ferrer說：「主賜給我們苦難和病痛，讓我們能夠償還我們對祂所欠下的巨大債務。因此，有智慧的人會欣然接受這些苦難，因為他們想到的是從中獲得的好處，而不是因苦難而感受到的痛楚。」聖斐理·乃立說：「在今生沒有煉獄，只有樂園或地獄。凡以忍耐承受苦難者，在樂園；不然者，在地獄。」

聖方濟·沙雷給出了以下忠告：「儘量少抱怨自己的不公待遇，因為一般來說，抱怨幾乎總是罪過；尤其是自愛總會誇大自己所受的傷害。不要向那些容易發怒和激動的人抱怨。如果有必要向他人傾訴，無論是尋求補救還是為了安撫心靈，應該向那些心靈平和、充滿天主之愛的人傾訴。否則，你的知己不但不會減輕你的痛苦，反而會激起更大的擾動；他們不會把刺拔出來，反而會將它更深地刺進你的腳中。」

聖人還說：「時常親吻主所賜給你背負的十字架，並全心全意地接受，而不論是何種類型；因為越卑微低賤，就越配得起十字架這個名字。十字架的功德不在於重量，而在於我們承受十字架的方式。承擔一個稻草般輕的十字架，可能比承擔一個非常沉重的十字架更能展現德行，因為輕的十字架往往是最隱藏、最被輕視的，因此最不合我們的喜好，而我們的喜好的總是尋求引人注目的事物。」

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