2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18
As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing. But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Ordination is like a marriage. It’s a promise that you make, and you’re making it to the Church and to the people of the church. A you’re making it with a little — at least, I was — with a lot of hope, but not a lot of confidence. More hope than confidence, at the beginning, that you’d give it the best you could.
Every year you have to renew your vows in front of the bishop during Holy Week. The bishop reads the vows again, and you have to say “Amen. Yes. I do.” And every year I’d say, “Well, I’ll try it one more year.” I just wasn’t very confident that it’d even go from one year to the next. I don’t know if other people do that. I certainly did until after 20 years, maybe even 22 or 23, I finally was able to think, “I’m going to be able to stay.”
Then you hear this proclamation, “I fought the good fight. I have completed the race.” At this point, Paul apparently has already been in prison and is already awaiting his fate. And he knows that he’s going to be killed by the state. He’s sending back the message, “So, I made it.”
And life is like that. You don’t know whether you’re going to do well, or how well you’re going to do throughout all our different challenges in life. You give it your best shot and, and most of all, I think success is almost entirely stick-to-it-iveness. So many times, people quit before they get 75 percent, or past the 50 percent mark, and say, “well, this is costing more than I expected.” They’re feeling it.
But you haven’t yet given 100 percent of yourself. Saint John Vianney would often say, “Well, I’ve not yet shed my blood for you.” And, and that’s blood, sweat, and tears. Any worthwhile endeavor, whether it be at work, but most of all, in your marriage or with your family, with your kids, requires that sacrifice. You just have to learn and know how to sacrifice for the sake of family, or whatever you’re sacrificing for, and ‘shedding your blood’ from time to time, spiritually or mentally.
You’re just giving it, you’re feeling the burden, you’re carrying the cross. You’ll have those periods of life when you’re slogging it. “I don’t know even if I want to continue to do this, this is really garbage.”
And yet, you stick. And it’s that steadfastness, in the end, that is the one thing that gives us the ability, the grace, to do what Saint Paul does today. “I finished, I fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have endured. And now I am ready for God’s glory. And I can come into God’s glory, giving thanks and praise for his giving me strength when I needed it. And that strength was what got me through.”
Whether today or in the future, remember the strength that God has given you to get you here so far. The crosses you bore, the times when you just had to slog it and say, “there’s no joy here, it’s a dark night, but the sun will come. You lived in hope. You just kept on hoping and believing in that.
So, in the end, I think Saint Paul is right. Those who longed for the Lord’s coming, they said “I’ll see you. I’ll get through this night.” And to believe in that, the Lord does give us strength. It’s a good thing to remember during those slogging days, it’s not a sign that the Lord’s abandoned us. It’s a sign that, right now, life is given some hardship, pray for God’s strength — not to take it away, but to get you through. And that will be the reward in the end. You got through. You fought the good fight. You stayed steady in the storm. And the reward is the joy of the other side. It’s the joy that you’ve made it to the very end.
I wish you that strength and courage every day of your life. And if you need it today, especially today if you’re slogging, believe in the Lord. You have strength. And the Lord will give you all the strength you need.
Father Pat, President and Founder