Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ,

This week, I watched my son practice a simple but powerful sentence: “There are two of us, and I would like to sit in the front row.”

He whispered it over and over as we waited in line for a roller coaster, preparing himself to speak confidently, past his autism, to the ride attendant. It was just one sentence, but it was a mountain he was climbing, word by careful word. (You can see him practicing in the picture below.)

Perseverance isn’t always loud or dramatic. Sometimes it looks like quietly rehearsing your lines, preparing your heart, steadying your nerves for the next moment.

It’s one of the most Christian of virtues—not because we’re told to grit our teeth and push through—but because we follow a Savior who, for the joy set before us, endured the cross.

Jesus didn’t avoid struggle. Neither he nor we are made for that.

But by prayerful preparation in the Garden, and for so long before that, he faced what was to come. It was who he was.

Perseverance so often becomes who we are. In Romans, Paul writes that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope.

What I saw in my son wasn’t just practice—it was courage. It was character. And it was hope that he could and would do it.

Your struggle this week might not involve roller coasters or spoken sentences. Maybe it’s showing up for a hard conversation, making it through another day of grief, or just choosing kindness in the middle of stress.

Whatever it is, you are not alone. Jesus walks with us through every line we stand in, every prayer we repeat, every effort we make to speak up, show up, or keep going.

So take heart. Your perseverance matters. And God sees every small, brave step. Keep going for you are growing more than you know—more than we can ask or imagine.

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Robert