Christian Meaning of Endurance

http://www.csctr.org/scripture_reflections.htm

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS FOR
24 NOVEMBER, 2010, WEDNESDAY, 34TH ORDINARY WEEK, CYCLE 2
BY REV FR WILLIAM GOH, SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR, CATHOLIC SPIRITUALITY CENTRE (CSC)
COPYRIGHTS RESERVED.

THE CHRISTIAN MEANING OF ENDURANCE

SCRIPTURE READINGS: REV 4:1-11; LK 19:11-28
http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/112410.shtml

Like everyone else in the world since the beginning of creation, we all have to face trials and persecutions in our lives.  Persecutions can come from without and from within.  From without, we have people who are against us for one reason or another.  Some do not like us simply because we are Christians or because we are too smart, handsome, poor, or unsuccessful.  Others perceive us as their oppressors or mistake us for their enemies who make life difficult for them.  From within, quite often our enemies come from our own parents, brothers, relations and friends.  It is not uncommon to have our loved ones and friends betray us.  Then again, because of differences in views and in work, we can become great enemies with our fellow community members. From professional differences with our fellow colleagues, quite often it leads to personal differences as well. 

But greater still is the challenge that comes from within us, our own selves.  As it is often said, we are our greatest enemies.  We find ourselves incapable of overcoming personal defects in our character.  We have to contend with our weaknesses, be they spiritual, moral or otherwise.  Perhaps, some of us find it so difficult to overcome our fears, insecurity, anxiety, suspicions, jealousy and guilt.  All these will eventually paralyze and destroy us.   And what is worse, we do not understand why all these things are happening in our lives.

How then do we deal with our persecutions and trials?  For some of us, we can be so overwhelmed by them that we give up even trying.  We find ourselves succumbing to our weaknesses or our persecutors.  Prayer seems to be of not much help as well, as God seems to be so far away.  The apparent absence of God, cumbered with the lack of understanding from our friends, aggravate the situation further.  Others withdraw from loving and from being good because they become so vulnerable to the manipulation of others.  Others still develop low self-worth and increase in suicidal tendency, as life seems to be so meaningless. But that would only be escapism. This would be tragic. 

Not only will we lose life in this world but more frightening still is eternal life in the next.  Whilst we can escape from the sufferings of this world, we cannot escape the eternal sufferings that would be ours if we end our lives in shambles, anger and incompleteness.  Hence, we are exhorted to endure to the end so that we will win life for ourselves.  It is within this context that the first reading makes sense.  The early Christians who suffered martyrdom knew that there was more to life than on this earth.  The ultimate life is a life lived in and with God.  This life on earth is but a journey to that eternal home with God in heaven.  Hence, it is important to remember the final goal of this life.  We must not think that this life is everything.  It is even more important to recognize that all that we are and do now will have eternal significance for us in the future.  Thus, we must endure right until the end in order to win life for ourselves.

But what is the meaning of endurance?  Does it mean that we take a stoic stance towards suffering, bearing them without flinching even a little?  Or do we take the way of the ascetic towards suffering by being passionless?  If that is the meaning of endurance, it means therefore that we must have a stony heart and be unfeeling.  But this cannot be the real meaning of endurance.  If that were so, then we become less than human.  We would only end up more hardened, bitter, angry and resentful and isolated from everyone else. This kind of life can hardly be said to be the life of God.  It would be hell and misery.  So Jesus is not asking us to be totally indifferent to life or even to suffering and pain.

Or perhaps, we should take the road of enlightenment taught to us by Buddha, which is to transcend pains through meditation by raising our minds above our bodies. By cultivating a pure mind, uncontaminated; and by thinking and acting positive; one transcends one’s physical, mental and emotional sufferings. Such transcendent outlook entails an attitude of detachment leading to a state of equanimity.  By being enlightened and mindful of the transitory values of life, one is liberated from attachment, which is the cause of our sufferings.  Detached from one’s ego and self, one can go beyond the self to others, to the whole universe and to God himself.  This is the ultimate goal of meditation, to be one with the whole creation by losing oneself in it.

Christian endurance is quite similar to this attitude of detachment and selflessness.  However, it is not simply being detached but being attached to Christ, being identified with His vision and His love that is the unique quality of Christian endurance.  The truth is that Christian endurance is borne not from a stoic reaction to sufferings but from one’s interior strength that comes from our identification with Jesus.  This is what Jesus meant when He tells us that we are not to prepare our defense because He will give us an eloquence and a wisdom that none of our opponents can resist or contradict.  In other words, such a strength comes from our inner being, our inner conviction and realization of who we are and our union with God in Christ and the transitory values of the world.  It is our identification with Jesus that will see us through in life.  Indeed, this was the case of the early Christians under persecution.

Such kind of endurance is neither detached to the extent of being indifferent, nor attached to the extent of being a puny hapless person at the mercy of others.  Nay, such endurance possesses the quality of the patience and love of God.  It is a sharing in the compassion of Christ.  It does not go against our human nature as it adopts a holy indifference to the things of this world and yet able to feel with the world and with others especially in their sufferings without being overwhelmed by them. Hence, there is a certain quality of tranquility, inner strength, joy and patience.  Only this kind of endurance can bring us life and win us life because it makes us better, stronger, more loving and more virtuous. 

How can we have such kind of patience?  Such union presupposes first and foremost, detachment from self.  This was what the early Christians under persecution did. It should be noted that the martyrs who went through the persecutions sang the song of victory to God not thinking of what they were going through.  They attributed everything to the work of God.  Their response was that God was great and wonderful in His works.  Nothing is mentioned about what they have gone through.  They were not inward looking in their sufferings.  Rather, their hearts were focused on God and His greatness and love.  We too must look outwards to others even in our sufferings so that we can forget our own.  In this way, we forget ourselves and our own pain like the Christians in sufferings.  Without the self, there is no self to engage in self-pity.

Secondly, we must see sufferings as ways in which our faith and virtues are tested.  They are occasions for us to help us grow in holiness; opportunities to bear witness to Christ.  Jesus certainly did not see them as obstacles for growth but opportunities for life and for love.  Hence, sufferings are instruments for our personal sanctification and the sanctification of others.  Through our persevering love and patience, we will be able to show the love of God to others.  And through our long-suffering love, we too will lead others to sanctification as well. 

Finally, we can bear such sufferings only when we know that we suffer with Jesus.  Jesus assures us that not a hair on our head would be lost.   He also promised us that He would act and speak through us.  After all, as the first reading tells us, our victory is the work of God.  Having this confidence in God’s providential care for us especially during our hardships will see us through until we reach the end. What is important for us is to remain united with Jesus so that His Spirit can live, work and speak through us.  In other words, our being must be identified with Christ in His mind and heart so that sharing in His sufferings; we might also one day share in His triumph and victory over sin and death.