Mary Magdalene, Seven Daily Demons, and Seven Antidotes

(Image: 14th Century Fresco from Decani Monastery Serbia.)

Diligence. I was having trouble getting a handle on how to think of this virtue but saw one way to look at it while listening to the gospel at Sunday liturgy (BCA Lectionary). We can hear this gospel hastily and think of Jesus speaking of prayer and fasting or the twelve’s lack of faith and the richer faith that can move mountains. We can forget that in the narrative of the gospel the twelve had earlier been sent by Jesus himself to preach but also to carry out healings like this one. On encountering an unfamiliar resistance, the twelve were understandably shaken. The faith Jesus recommends to them is not a self-constructed faith that works miracles for the drama, but a faith which endures. The soul bolstered by faith can await the bridegroom and the gift of a yet unseen redemption. Be that perseverance in prayer and fasting as the twelve failed to understand they needed or any perseverance – in good work that bear no or little fruit, in seeking the grace to truly know the bridegroom, in repenting as many times and to as much a depth as is needed to truly allow sin to rooted out of us. This endurance is the true work of the diligent, persistent soul.  We must continue our work and our faithfulness, even if it seems God is distant, unresponsive or unwise. (For a little more on this theme, see here.) If you are like me, at this point you might feel like saying. .  .