Let us not forget that haste and impatience are enemies of the spiritual life: Because God is love, and whoever loves does not get tired, does not get irritated, does not give up. ultimatum, but he knows how to wait. Let us think of the story of the merciful Father, who waits for his son who has left home: he suffers patiently, impatient only to embrace him as soon as he sees him return (cf. Lc 15, 21); or in the parable of the wheat and the tares, with the Lord who is in no hurry to eradicate evil before its time, so that nothing is lost (cf. Mt 13, 29-30).
But how do you do it increase patience? Being, as Saint Paul teaches, a fruit of the Holy Spirit (cf. Ga 5, 22), we must ask the Spirit of Christ for it. He gives us the gentle strength of patience, it is a gentle force of patience, because “it is characteristic of Christian virtue not only to do good, but also to know how to endure evil” (Saint Augustine, Speeches, 46, 13). Especially in these days, it will do us good to contemplate the Crucified to assimilate his patience. A good exercise is also to bring the most annoying people to Him, asking Him for the grace to put into practice with them that work of mercy that is as well-known as it is neglected: patiently put up with people who bother. And it is not easy, let’s think if we do this, to patiently put up with people who bother us.
It begins by asking that they be looked at with compassion, with the gaze of God, knowing how to distinguish their faces from their defects. We have the habit of cataloging people with the mistakes they make. This is not good. Let’s look for people by their faces, by their hearts, and not by their mistakes. Finally, to cultivate patience, a virtue that gives breath to life, it is advisable widen the view.