Time is of the Essence

Dear Friends,
There are many modern abbreviations. ICYMI is a new one for me, but it is officially a word as decided by Merriam Webster’s in 2023. In Case You Missed It… How do you pronounce that?

This is week two of our message series, YOLO - You Only Live Once. We are baptizing that phrase. For the last decade, YOLO has meant go for it; crush it; try it; send it! Never look back. We might be reminded of the dictum from Horace: carpe diem. Seize the day! Do not leave what could be done today until tomorrow. But there are many ways to understand this notion, with many implications. St. Paul would say, “run so as to win!” meaning this life is a race and the finish line is heaven.

Last week we considered all that God has provided for our good, the blessings in life entrusted to us: health, talents, resources, time, all of God’s gifts.  This week we focus on time since it is one gift that we can sometimes squander. Time is unique in two ways. First, we do not know how much of it we actually have. We do not know if we will live to be 50 or 100. Every day is a gift and we do not know if we will be blessed with one or with ten thousand more. Second, we cannot really save time. Sure, we say “saving time” but that really means increasing efficiency. Many people have PTO - paid time off - which accumulates over time, but all the while time is ticking. As a resource, we never have enough time.

Time is always passing by. The clock never stops ticking. Compare that to money. We can earn, save, spend, invest, lose, or give away money. We can even just hold on to it. Not so with time. Even while we are discerning what to do with our time, it is passing. Hence, time is of the essence!

We get a sense of that in the Gospel account today. The king throws a wedding feast for his son, but the first guests refuse to come. They have better things to do. One heads off to his farm, another to his business. We can wonder what would motivate them to miss the wedding of the king’s son. Competing priorities keep them from attending the party. I often ask myself what keeps everyone from attending Sunday Mass? A similar response surfaces: they have other competing priorities. Limited is everyone’s time, especially free time, or perhaps better say, unoccupied time. Since, time is never “free;” it is just that we have other things to do.

This week, I would invite you to consider your time, your schedule. Name one thing that you want more of in your life: prayer, exercise, rest, time with family and friends. Schedule it. Block it out. Create time for that one thing you think you need more of. Do not let another day go by without doing this. Do not let other things crowd out that one thing you know that you need more of. If you do not schedule it, “make time” for it, it will not happen. The clock is ticking. Time is of the essence.

Time is a beautiful gift from God, but competing priorities will always arise. It is up to us to keep our priorities clear, to keep our schedules in accord with our values and goals. We recognize that we only live once, and we do not know how much time we have.

Godspeed,
Fr. Wilson