Tuesday, January 17 : Saint Cyprian

For our salvation, our Lord and Master gave us this commandment: “Whoever holds out till the end will escape death.” (Mt 10:22) … The very fact that we are Christians grounds our faith and our hope. But so that hope and faith might bear fruit, patient endurance is necessary. We do not seek the glory that is here below, but the future glory. The apostle Paul warned us: “In hope we were saved. But hope is not hope if its object is seen; how is it possible for one to hope for what he sees? And hoping for what we cannot see means awaiting it with patient endurance.” (Rom 8:24-25) In another passage, Paul gave the same teaching to the righteous who work so that God’s gifts might bear fruit in order to prepare greater treasures for themselves in heaven…: “While we have the opportunity, let us do good to all… Let us not grow weary of doing good; if we do not relax our efforts, in due time we shall reap our harvest.” (Gal 6:10.9)… And when Paul talked about charity, he added perseverance and patient endurance: “Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not jealous, it does not put on airs… Love is not prone to anger; neither does it brood over injuries… There is no limit to love’s forbearance, to its trust, its hope, its power to endure.” (1 Cor 13:4-7) He thus shows that love is capable of persevering to the end, since it can bear all things. Finally, Paul said in another passage: “Bear with one another lovingly. Make every effort to preserve the unity which has the Spirit as its origin and peace as its binding force.” (Eph 4:2-3) Thus he shows that brothers can preserve neither unity nor peace if they do not encourage one another by bearing with one another, and if they do not maintain the bond of concord by means of their patient endurance.
maronite readings – rosary,team