While I'm doing much better than I was, I am still recovering from the bug that knocked me out of commission last weekend. Good health is returning gradually...much like Spring to the North Country...
Fifth Sunday of Lent B
that
Friday was the first day of Spring…
…but
even a quick look out the window
gives
a slightly different impression.
It’ll
be a little while yet
before we’ll be sniffing the flowers
or
walking around barefoot in the grass.
I
got a little nervous, I must say,
about
the way Fr. Justin talked
about the start of Spring—
even
quoting to me more than once
the
precise moment of the equinox.
I
was worried he might be expecting,
right
at the stroke of 6:45pm,
that
tulips would sprout and temperatures rise!
Of course,
if you’re from the North Country
you know that
the weather in these parts
pays little attention to what the calendar says.
Ancient
Greek—
the
original language of the New Testament—
had
two different words for time:
chronos and kairos.
Chronos is the time of calendar and
clock,
of
days and weeks, minutes and hours.
Kairos is quite different.
Kairos is the fitting time, the
right time.
Kairos is when time opens up.
Kairos isn’t about counting
minutes,
but
about moments that really count—
a
matter of quality, not quantity.
Chronos asks, “What time did the
movie end?”
Kairos asks, “Did you have a good
time?”
Every
second is always the same length,
but
some moments are worth a whole lot more than others.
we find Jesus talking about kairos:
“The
hour has come
for the Son of Man to be glorified.…
It
was for this purpose that I came to this hour.”
He’s
not saying,
“The
Father’s got my crucifixion scheduled
for next Friday at noon.
Put
it in your datebook!
I
hope you all can make it.”
No,
Jesus is saying
that
his coming Passion, death, and Resurrection
is
the pinnacle point of all human history:
“When
I am lifted up from the earth,
I
will draw all people to myself.”
While
the Paschal Mystery, of course,
occurred
at a particular time in the past,
it
is also very much beyond time’s reach.
This
is the fullness of time:
the
moment of man’s redemption,
the
moment toward which God
has been guiding every little thing
since
the moment of man’s original sin.
So
much about the intersection
of
Jesus and time in this Sunday’s gospel.
How
do faith and time intersect in your life and mine?
We’re
busy people these days—
more
often than not, too busy, if you ask me.
What
I observe again and again
are
Catholics trying to squeeze in their spiritual lives
between
all their other interests and obligations.
To
be a “good Catholic” in many minds
means
being able to document the date of your Baptism,
and
then fitting a convenient Sunday Mass onto the calendar
as
frequently as you’re able.
I
see folks struggling to keep some religion in their schedule,
yet
failing to lead a fulfilling life of faith.
My
friends, when it comes to matters of faith,
we
must step out of chronos—
of
time measured for the sake of worldly business—
and
step instead into kairos—
into
the time appointed for God’s purpose alone.
Our
dealings with God
aren’t
about keeping the bare terms of a contract;
they’re
about forging a very personal relationship—
about
falling and growing in love.
And
love, as we all know, demands quality time:
love
can’t be forced to follow your watch.
God
won’t be just another item on your agenda;
God wants to set the agenda—
to
be the guiding force that puts all your plans together.
Since
Jesus’ saving work on our behalf
is—if
you will—“off the clock,”
outside
our regular timetable?
As
we inch our way into another Spring,
we
are quickly coming up on a privileged season
in
the Church’s calendar:
Holy
Week—a time particularly open to grace.
We
are invited more deeply into the timeless mystery of Jesus,
the
grain of wheat mercifully sown among us by the Father:
that
seed, once dead and buried three days in the earth,
yet
now raised, still flourishing, and bearing abundant fruit.
Holy
Week has a special ability to pull us out of chronos—
out
of that swiftly passing time
where
death would appear to have the final word—
and
insert us into kairos—into that unfolding
and enduring time
where
the last word is God’s word, and his word is life.
Whether
you’re spending it here at home
or
will be away travelling elsewhere,
take
full advantage of this blessed opportunity.
Yes,
put Holy Week on your schedule;
but
even more, let it—let Christ—take deep root in your heart.
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