“What is the secret of perseverance? Love. Fall in Love, and you will not leave Him.” (Saint Josemaría).
In the Old Testament, in the Book of Genesis, we are told the story of Abraham pleading to God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah from destruction because of the sinfulness of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.
“… Then the Lord said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.’… Then Abraham approached Him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?... The Lord said, ‘If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.’… Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, ‘For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.’ Then he said, ‘May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?’ He answered, ‘For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.’” (Genesis 18:20-32)
And I have been reflecting on this ancient story because it has reminded me of the parable that Christ told about the man who sowed good seeds…
“A man sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.’” (Matthew 13:24-30).
And these couple of stories – one older than the other – are such a clear indication that Christ is right when He said that He came to FULFIL the Scriptures, not to replace them… “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17).
In Christ’s time, the seeds of the wheat and those of the weeds looked identical and it was only possible to determine what had been planted after the crop had grown and was ready for harvest. And yet, if an enemy of the farmer wished to attack the farmer, they would pollute the wheat seeds with weeds to ruin the entire crop. And the weeds scattered among the wheat would mean that the farmer would be better to discard the entire crop to save himself the trouble of harvesting the good with the bad and separating the wheat from the weeds…
And I have been reflecting on that reality as I have been thinking about both Bible verses today…
For the saints understood that evil is scattered among the good, but we do not have a man who is a sower of seeds to harvest us from this life… We have GOD. And God takes the time and effort to sort the wheat from the weeds… And knowing that, I follow the advice of Saint Teresa of Avila who said, saints “must have a great and very determined determination to persevere until reaching the end, come what may, happen what may, whatever work is involved, whatever criticism arises, whether they arrive or whether they die on the road, or even if they don't have courage for the trials that are met, or if the whole world collapses.”
And I have been reflecting on that as I give thanks for my God, for I have learned the secret of perseverance, and it is LOVE… “What is the secret of perseverance? Love. Fall in Love, and you will not leave Him.” (Saint Josemaría).
And how much love I have for the One who created me – for I am a miserable weed, and yet I am confident in Him who is INFINITE mercy and love… Even though I am a miserable weed…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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