Are we making the most of our time?

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We now find ourselves in the “dog days of summer.” I love this time of year, as I am a person who prefers heat. I detest cold weather. But it is also a time of year when young people are swimming, boating, water-skiing, camping and taking those longer vacations (now that Covid has been addressed). It is during the summer months that the Catholic Church moves to what is called Ordinary time. Lent and Easter have ended, and our focus is directed more to the public ministry of Jesus.
Have you ever stopped to think about time? We each as individuals have only a limited amount of it while here in the body. In the greater scheme of things, whether we are talking human history or the understanding of eternity, it is a rather small amount that we are each given. So why do we call it Ordinary? To mark those Sundays outside of the seasons of Lent, Easter, Advent and Christmas. In Ordinary time we hear the parables, miracles and the preaching of Jesus that identifies us as Christian. Thus, as one of my professors at the seminary would state, there is nothing ordinary about ordinary time. Each Sunday from June to November is a gathering of the faithful to celebrate again that event which brought about salvation. Each Sunday is a “little” Easter.
I realize that a large number of people have to work on Sundays. Hospitals, nursing homes and the like cannot just shut down. Folks who have to work to support a family need to work the hours that their employer gives them in order to pay the bills. In the ideal world, Sunday for Christians would be a day of prayer and play. Taking the time to give praise and worship to God with a heart filled with gratitude and the time to relax and rest the body. Wasted time is not a commodity in American society, and perhaps at times all of us can get caught up in the consumerism of the day. I have heard people say that they need to work 12-hour days so that they can pay for the new car they want, the vacation to that foreign country they desire or to save enough money for their future needs.

But time is also sacred. It is a gift from God. How we use that gift speaks volumes about our priorities. Caring for ourselves----taking the time to give our bodies and minds true rest. How can we focus on prayer and prayerful living if our minds are racing in multiple directions worrying about things that we cannot control? How can we practice charity when we never make the time to be involved with the community around us? At a previous parish I was assigned to, we started a weekend retreat program for men. Getting 25 fathers to commit for a Friday evening through Sunday morning at a retreat center seemed to me a daunting task. This is their time with the kids, with their wives, getting things done around the house---do you think we can get 25 men to commit? As it turned out, we had 21, and we could all tell from their words and behavior that they were not sure what to do with this “time.” But after 38 hours together and packing up to go back to the parish to meet their families for Sunday morning Mass, all 21 of these men raved about what an incredible weekend it was for them. One highlight that I will mention was Saturday afternoon. They were given three hours of free time and told: go for a walk, read a book, sit in the chapel, take a nap, but whatever you choose, make it something that will rest and relax your body. It was amazing to discover how many people do not know what to do with free time!
This past weekend was our nation’s birthday. Did we find ourselves running from one event to another, one party to another, one job to another?
Time is sacred, it is a gift from God. Since the time of Moses, God has told His people to take one day for worship and rest. Do we take His advice?
Rev. Patrick Christopher is the pastor at St. Joseph parish in Apple Creek. He can be reached via email at mailto:stjoeapc@gmail.com.