Wednesday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
How many things have I wanted to get done today that I was unable to accomplish. It seems there are not enough hours in the day. The lunches need made before school. One of the children needs driven to school. Homework may need to be finished before school. Then there is breakfast and the commute to work. And this is just the first few hours of the day. It seems sometimes there is little time for a person to breathe.
Time is one of the themes in today’s readings, and for St. Paul time is running short. Paul believed Christ would return soon and was encouraging the Corinthians to live in readiness for the Messiah’s return. Paul’s belief carries with it strong recommendations. If you are married, live as if you are not married. If you are sad live as if you are not sad. If you are buying, live as if you do not own. These prescriptions seem to make little sense from the distance of two millennia.
The perspective of time may in fact be the lesson from today’s scripture. How many times have I prayed that there would be more hours in the day? Has this kind of prayer helped? Perhaps I would be better served by praying that I use whatever time I have more wisely. One of the ways I could better use my time is by worrying less.
The Gospel gives us the perspective of a bigger picture from which to look at the world. “Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. ( Lk 6:20) Each blessing reminds us to take a step back and get a perspective on our own poverties, on our own hungers and on our own sadness. The reading not only challenges us to look at our lives in the perspective of time, but it gives us hope that God will redeem the suffering in our lives.
Lord, thank you for all your Blessings. Give us eyes that see your love working in our lives, so that as people hope we can be ready to rejoice for the day you come and take us to yourself. Amen!
-Michael Montgomery