"Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring"

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” ― John Calvin Coolidge Jr: was the 30th President of the United States (1923–29).

Gospel Text: (Luke 11:5-13)

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,'
and he says in reply from within,
'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.'
I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.

"And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask him?"

Persistence can be “shameless“ in not giving up on a situation. Persistence can imply an annoyance and stubbornness. Perseverance and persistence carry a note of difficulty and trouble.

It is a matter of “waiting beyond what we can endure,” beyond what we think is our limits. In this way we are showing others a goodness that goes beyond ourselves and our expectations! (Is not that the divine, “beyond our limits and imagination?”)

Yes, I am talking about being purified of not using religion as measuring success by external results like being “holy bean counters.”

In the words of St. John the XXIII, “Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”