Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Time can be a struggle for me. Managing it. Appreciating it. Giving it to others. Exhibiting patience. I’m always on the go, trying to squeeze ten minutes of work into five, and can often be late as a result. The older I become, the more vaporous time seems to be and the more speedily it appears to pass, as it seems that my nearly 2 year old son was born just yesterday. Where did the time go? Perhaps you share some of these same struggles with the reality of time? I suspect I’m not alone, considering the many musical artists who have puzzled and lamented over this same reality- from Chicago asking if “anybody really knows what time it is?” to John Mayer pleading for “someone to stop this train” to Hootie and the Blowfish asking, “Time, why you punish me?” Time is a mysterious part of our human experience. For reflection today I would like to focus on the theme of time, remembering that as the Word became flesh, the eternal Word, Jesus Christ, not only entered the world He created but also entered the time He began.
In today’s first reading from the first chapter of Habakkuk the prophet is awaiting God’s reply to his complaints about the injustice, destruction, and violence he observes against the community. Habakkuk is anxious for God to act and you can nearly hear the impatience in his voice. He exclaims, “Are you not from eternity, O Lord, my holy God, immortal?” almost as if he means to say, “God, what are you waiting for?” God finally responds to Habakkuk’s petitions and answers, “For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.” In other words, the Lord insists, “Be patient.” Do we not all too easily relate to Habakkuk’s experience? Observing the many injustices present within the world- abortion, war, and discrimination, to name a few- we are anxious for God to act, to reveal Himself, and to give us a new vision for the world today. It’s easy to ask ourselves, “God, what are you waiting for?”
Both in today’s first reading and Gospel, God is described as “enduring” – a word which denotes the passage of time. Referring to God, Habakkuk says, “the sight of misery you cannot endure.” In the Gospel, referring to His disciples, Jesus asks, “How long will I be with you? How long will I endure you?” The words “How long?” are common in the psalms of lament and it is with these same words that Habakkuk begins his oracle which includes today’s first reading: “How long, Oh Lord, must I cry for help, and you do not listen?” It’s an extraordinary thought to imagine God, who is eternal, subjecting Himself to time at all. But we know that enduring is different from simply waiting for time to pass. What endures withstands time and upholds regardless of it. And God endures! Twenty-six times in Psalm 136 the psalmist sings that God’s “love endures forever.” God’s capacity to endure should be the cause of tremendous hope for us. Because God, who freely entered into time, who is patient with us, and desires relationship with us, is inviting us to enter into eternity- past, present, and future all at once. In doing so, He calls us out of despair and brings us into a life of hope that is built on trust- trust in His plan for our lives and trust in His timing, which “will not disappoint.”
Perhaps we feel like we’ve been crying out to God with the same prayers and the same sins for much longer than we’d like to admit, waiting for something to get better. Commenting on this point at last summer’s World Youth Day, Pope Francis said, “We are impatient, anxious to see the whole picture, but God lets us see things slowly, quietly.” Today, as disciples, may we move from time to eternity by slowing down and prayerfully entering into the quiet of our hearts to see God’s plan for our lives. May we also trust in God’s timing and remember that the time we are given is ultimately a gift. Let’s not let a second go to waste! Amen.
Ryan J. Mahle