Time Is Short; Using It Well

I tell you, brothers and sisters, that time is running out.  The time is running out.   We sense urgency.  And these words of St. Paul we heard today, “I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out.”  He is talking to everyone, no matter what age we are, all of us. He says, “From now on, that those who have wives live as though they had none, those who mourn as though they were not mourning, those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, those who buy as though they had no goods, those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it.”  And then he says why.  He says, “For the form of this world, is passing away.” The form of this world here, is passing away.  It is not going to last. That is why it says that the time is running out.  Our time here in this world is limited, and it is running out. Because all this world is passing away. The earth is passing.  The earth, and its’ current stage.  So that helps us to judge things rightly.  Of course, this is not a new teaching, this is just a classic Christian teaching, but the world is always trying to distract us from the simple truth, to make us forget and to act as if this world is all that there is.  It is almost like the world is trying to put a type of blinders on, so that we cannot look out and we only see what is right around us.  To make us forget eternity, which is what really matters.  And just an example is how much our culture focuses on bodies, healthy bodies, beautiful bodies, strong bodies.  And compare that to how much emphasis our culture places on souls, on healthy souls, on strong, beautiful souls. How many ads do you see on TV for beautiful souls, for health of souls, for ways to have a better soul?   In fact, to such a point that many people even today, and much more perhaps than we realize, are willing to sell their soul for worldly success.  The time is running out for the form of this world is passing away.  And that’s not sad news.  If our life here is difficult, if we are waiting for something much, much better.  That is not bad news. That is good news.  So, our time here is short.  And it is also important. Our short time here is very important.  We have a very limited amount of time here.  And it is something that is very valuable.

And there are some times which are especially important times, which are especially critical and urgent.  Not all times are the same.  There are times when very much can change in a short time, when important decisions are being made.  We have an example, in the first reading, God sends the prophet Jonah, who does not want to be a prophet.  He is reluctant, he is forced to and tries to run away from it, but because God sent him to this immense city, pagan city of Nineveh, to preach in 40 days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed.  So, what he is saying is, there is not much time left, you do not have much time.  This is critical.  You better act now or it is going to be too late.  This is not one of the things we will see about next year.  You have to act now. And it was the mercy of God, God could have just wiped him out right away, but he gave them a warning.  And that this time was urgent so that that was a time which is especially urgent.  We see another example in the Gospel where Jesus is beginning His public life, His public ministry and He says, “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is here.” So, he is saying to those who are listening to Him that something completely new is beginning. Since the time of Adam and Eve, it has been a time of promise while God has been preparing them and promising a savior.  And now after so many centuries, Jesus is announcing to them that now that is beginning, the time of promises has ended.  Now is the time of fulfillment, the time of fulfillment is beginning.  And think, that was not apparent to everybody.  I mean, think, for instance, if you had been at Rome at that time, and somebody had said to you, do you know that something a completely new era has just begun in humanity, and they would have said, No, things are just going on as normal, just as normal ups and downs, there is nothing that is special. So, it was not necessarily that apparent.  And even to the people where Jesus was, for many of them, it would have seemed like pretty much business as usual.  One of the little news items was that there is this new guy from Nazareth beginning to preach, and there is a lot of other news, but life has otherwise pretty much the same, it is pretty much Rome is still the Emperor, it is pretty much the same as always.  So, it was not apparent to everybody. Only to those who believed in Jesus, could they understand what this really meant.  So, then Jesus goes on to say, repent, that is, given the fact that this is a time of fulfillment that the kingdom of God is at hand, there is something that we need to do, He says, repent, that is, make a change, turn, make a turn, in your life, Repent, and then even more importantly, believe in the Gospel. Believe in the word of Jesus Christ, believe in Jesus, that was critical at this time. And so, Jesus is announcing that this is a critical time for those who are listening. And some of them heard His call, responded, repented, believed, and their lives were changed for all eternity. And others missed this opportunity, and maybe missed it for all eternity.  So that was a time, a critical time in which people had the opportunity, a special opportunity.  But that called for making a choice. I believe in Jesus.  And I think today, these very difficult times that we are living in so many ways, we have talked a lot about that, how difficult and in so many ways dark these times are, as I think of the words of Scripture, these times are evil.   There is a lot of evil in the times we are living.  But I think they are also critical times, a turning point.  And so, we need to be attentive, as Jesus says to the signs of the times, if we watch the news, it does not make us attentive to the signs of the times the news is, so much of it is entertainment, and so much of it is propaganda.  We need to be attentive to the signs of the times.

So where do we see that signs of times?  How can we see the signs of the times?  And it is in Jesus.  We know it is in believing in Jesus, that we become attentive to the signs of the times, like one of the signs of time, for instance, is abortion. It is a sign it is not something normal. It is a sign of how evil these times are, how confused these times are.  The fact that we are calling into question that God created us, male or female, is a sign of the times.  So, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus.  So, given that the times are short, and these are critical times that we are living, we have been called to live these challenging, difficult, dark, but very important times in which sin abounds. But as St. Paul says,  “Where sin abounds, Grace over abounds.” These times of sin, but also times of grace, that you and I have been called to live. Our mission is in these times.  So how can we make good use of this limited time that we have of this one life that we have here on earth?  How can we use it well, especially in these times?  You know, there is a lot of fog today, right?  You cannot see very far, and a lot of times life is like that. It is foggy. We do not see very well what is coming ahead, even for the future of our country for the future of our world. For the future of our church.  We cannot see very far. You are all looking at the fog as the fog is rolling in. So that is what our life is like our spiritual life.  Some of you are probably driving out in that fog and it is difficult, it is dangerous.  How can we know where to go when we cannot see very far ahead?  And that is why the fact that today is the Sunday of the Word of God, an important sign, because, as the Psalm said, “Teach me Your ways, oh, Lord.” We need the light of God, the light that comes from his word, to do His will.   When it is very, very foggy, we cannot see the path, we cannot see where we’ are going. But God knows where. And so, the key is to hold on to Him.  And we hold on to Him and listen to Him by listening to His word, by seeking His will. So, He can guide us to make good use of the time we have so that each one of us can fulfill the special mission that we have been given.  So, what does that look like?  Making good use of this limited time?  Does that mean that we are called to be workaholics running ourselves ragged and with all sorts of frenetic activity?  No, we see right from the very beginning, the Lord’s scripture talks about the Lord wanting, instituting right from the very beginning, a time of sacred rest for man, a day of sacred rest, the Lord’s day.  And we see a great example in the life of Jesus.  Nobody had a more urgent mission than Jesus, the whole salvation of the world depended on Him and, he only had 33 years to do it.  So, He has got to be really busy, right?  Super busy. But the funny thing is and the strange thing is He only devoted three of those 33 years to His intense public ministry.   All the other years were in His hidden life.  A lot of it was done just doing carpentry, and then living with His family.  Why does Jesus not get busy and do important stuff, instead of just carpentry?  Carpentry is not going to save the world, right?  I mean, if He made a nice chair, a good table, that is not going to save the world.  Why did He not do important stuff?   So, God’s ways are very different from our ways. Jesus shows us that He was doing His Father’s will, and that is the essential thing.  He knew what to do with His time. We have another example like that.

This year we are reflecting on St. Joseph, in the example of St. Joseph St. Joseph, who was a hard worker, a family man, but he was not a workaholic.  I mean, things St. Joseph could have thought, well, this is a critical time.  This is a time in which the Savior is coming.  So, I am not just going to waste my time as a carpenter, when I am so close to the Savior, maybe I am going to do something more noble and spiritual, more important, like, I will do something radical, like John the Baptist will later go off into the desert all by myself.   Or I will do something useful.  I will go and preach the Word of God, like the apostles would be called to do, like Jesus would do later on. But St. Joseph did not do that.  Because that is not what God was calling him to.  That was not his mission.  And so, he did well, very well, what his mission was. And so, St. Joseph is a good example of how to use well the time that God gives us without fear, without agitation. without, you know, as I said, running ourselves ragged, simply doing our duty. And maybe in a very simple, what seems like a very simple, ordinary life, peacefully, trusting in God, knowing that all is in His hands. So that is the key to making good use of the limited time we have.  It is very simply following God’s will.  When it is time to work, work, when it is time to rest, rest, when it’s time to be with family and friends, when it’s time for recreation when it’s time for, health, when it’s time for sleep, just doing God’s will.  But the key thing is doing God’s Will.  “I tell you brothers and sisters; the time is running out.  For the world, in its present form, is passing away.”  And so, I think this is an invitation to use well, this opportunity that God has given us. So, with St. Joseph or with our Blessed Mother, even right now in this Mass, if you want to, you can offer to the Lord, the time that you have left in your life.  Maybe we have wasted opportunities in our life.  But what is important, is what we do now.  And we can do it make that offering even right now in this Mass, offering our time to the Lord.  Amen.