Forty years is a long time in a person's life, but not necessarily in the life of the church. Consider, for example, that it took well over a century for the reforms of the Council of Trent to take hold. We could also note that after God gave the commandments on Mount Sinai, it took the Israelites more than forty years before they were ready to enter the Holy Land. And it took far longer yet before they could establish themselves in practice of the Law! Clearly, all work of change requires time before it can be understood, accepted, and integrated into everyday life.