“SUCCESS IS NOT FINAL, FAILURE IS NOT FATAL: IT IS THE COURAGE TO CONTINUE THAT COUNTS.”

– WINSTON CHURCHILL

There’s a story in the Gospel of John where Jesus appears to his disciples after his resurrection. He was standing on the shore of the lake by a small fire with some bread and fish, and invited them to join him for a meal by saying to them, “Come and have breakfast.”

Come and have breakfast. What a simple, caring, and ordinary gesture Jesus extended to his disciples. It was his way of saying to them: I am still with you and here for you. It is a gesture that Jesus extended many times through his ministry to friends, family, and strangers.

In pondering this story, we can be mindful of all the ways so many people are likewise extending such thoughtful and caring gestures amid challenging times by letting others know they too are with them and here for them. These types of outreach witnesses to the resiliency present within individuals and among the wider community.

Throughout his life, Jesus fostered a community of friends and invited others to join and be his companions. He modelled how to reframe situations in order to invite others to shift their perspectives and open their hearts to new understandings – such as seeking to shift the cultural worldview at the time from judgement to compassion. He witnessed great resolve in continuing to preach his message of love and acceptance in the midst of rejection and conflict.

Throughout life, we are challenged individually, and as a Society, to develop a spirituality of resilience. In doing this, we have been tested, we have had to be adaptive, we have had to be mouldable in some ways, and sometimes we have been deflated when we may not have met deadlines or hit targets or been able to help companions in the way we wish we could. In all of these, it is important to remember (and believe and know) that you are not alone in this venture.

Even though we are responsible for the present, we continue building the future together knowing that there will always be unexpected external factors and unexpected hiccups in the work that we do as a Society. This is part of life. We keep on moving forward knowing that many of these things are beyond our control – as hard as that may be to accept and make peace with. Together we are reframing how to incrementally live in the present and have hope for the future. Our resolve is great, and we trust that God will bless us with graces sufficient to proceed at this moment in time as we work in partnership to shape a more just and compassionate society.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

• Where have you experienced or witnessed resilience in yourself or others?
• In what ways do you value resilience?

From: Firewood for the soul, vol. 2, A Reflexion Book for the Whole Vincentian Family
St. Vincent de Paul Society, Queensland, Australia.
Text by: Samantha Hill and James Hodge.