Daily Meditation for March 19, 2024

People in Africa like to say that “The path is made by walking.” They know that once or twice won’t do it. They know they have to make a habit of walking the same route or acting a certain way, before they can expect noticeable change or long-term results. Our culture, on the other hand, teaches us to expect instant results. When we want something, we want it now. Credit cards, for example, make instant satisfaction possible, but they have led many impatient people into deep debt which they will never be able to repay. The virtue or good habit of waiting is possible only to those who trust in the final end of a life lived with integrity. Waiting is possible only to those who are willing to do their part, and then able to trust that the final outcome—the success or failure of their efforts—rests with God and not with them. Lent is a season when Christians practice the virtue of waiting for God.

By Delores Dufner, OSB