Perseverance
The summer is still well upon us and the days are still hot in southern Florida. We can determine something about ourselves by the way we take the heat. Putting up with one or two days of heat is one thing, but putting up with a string of them is quite another. The slower and hotter days of southern Florida’s summer, with our thinned-out population, give us time to reflect. The most important matter we can reflect on is our life and what we do with it, namely, our vocation. A good question to reflect on is how do we endure the heat? Not the heat of summer, but the heat that each of us must face in our lives as a result of our choice of walk in life. Bearing that type of heat well is what the virtue of perseverance is all about and it must be part of every vocation.
Perseverance was well described by President John F. Kennedy. He said, “… what really counts is not the immediate act of courage or of valor, but those who bear the struggle day in and day out — not the sunshine patriots but those who are willing to stand for a long period of time.” Certainly, these words are a fitting description of courageous men and women. However, they also describe well all those who have given themselves to a vocation. Living a vocation requires daily perseverance by which one bears the struggles, the heat, day in and day out and is willing to stand for a long period of time.
Perseverance is a critical part of every vocation. Whether one is married, a priest or a religious, one has to be willing to stand for a long period of time. There is great joy in committing one’s life to God through an exclusive commitment to another person and a family in marriage, or to all of God’s family in the priesthood or religious life. However, such commitment necessitates sacrifice and a renunciation of oneself. The initial renunciation is one that lasts for a lifetime, and certainly entails bearing the struggle day in and day out. If you ask any husband or wife about such perseverance in marriage, they will certainly testify to being willing to withstand the heat. Likewise, if you ask any priest or religious about such valor in their vocations, they too will testify to it.
The Lord had much to say about perseverance and the fundamental call to be one of His followers. Whether we are a priest, a religious or a married couple, we are such as Christians. The following words of the Lord speak well of the perseverance that must be the hallmark of the Christian who is willing to bear the heat day in and day out in whatever walk of life God has called him or her.
· “The love of many will grow cold, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved” (Mt 24:13).
· “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God” (Lk 9:62).
· “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mk 8:34).
· “How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few” (Mt 7:14).
· “When you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go” (Jn 21:18).
Meaning in life is found by giving oneself to a purpose. In that purpose is the vocation to which God calls each and every one of us. By living only for ourselves, we are lost and without joy. By giving ourselves away, we find ourselves and also the joy that God wants us to have. It is difficult for our society to understand the real meaning of vocation and the perseverance it entails. A profession, a career, a temporary commitment are easy for our world to accept. However, a vocation to which one commits one’s whole life in the service of God and others, whether it be marriage, priesthood or religious life, is not so easily understood and even harder to live out in our world, especially when the heat arrives.
We see marriage and the family, the basic vocation, so much misunderstood and even undermined by our current society. One simply has to be attentive to political and legislative agendas or to watch primetime TV to realize that the perseverance of the vocation of marriage and the family is in crisis. The vocation of marriage, which is based on a permanent commitment between two people in good times and in bad, is facing difficult times.
The vocations of priesthood and religious life, which stem from the family, are also facing difficult times because our world has lost sight of true perseverance. If it is difficult to find the permanent commitment necessary for marriage, how much more will it be so for the vocations of priesthood and the religious life.
As we have time to reflect upon our lives, especially during the hot days, may we better realize that a vocation is built on perseverance, the willingness to stand for a long period of time and bear the heat day in and day out. By doing so, we find ourselves and also our joy!
Most Reverend Gerald M. Barbarito
