Time
Time is a very valuable gift given to us by the Lord. He is the owner of the vineyard where our “fig tree” is growing. It would be absurd to expect the fig tree to determine when its time is up. (Luke 13:1-9)
That right belongs to the owner of the vineyard. Similarly, we don’t decide when our time on earth is up. Regardless of our bearing good fruit or of our sterility; regardless of our preparedness, age, health condition, goodness or lack thereof, the Lord reserves the right to call us to himself whenever he sees fit. Besides old age, the end of our life on earth could also be the result of a “mean Pilate” who mingles our blood with the one of our sacrifices, or due to a “falling tower,” or simply a little bacterium or a mysterious virus.
Anyhow, for believers, death must be seen not as punishment for one’s sins or as a curse, but rather as the crowning and fulfillment of a heart that has borne fruits of love and service to God and neighbor. If death were punishment, why is it that countless, good, innocent people suffer and die every day? Death must be seen as a tragedy only if, day in and day out, a person has refused to bear fruits of love and service. So, it is not how long our lifespan is, but how well or badly, we have used the time allotted to us by our Creator.
St. Paul (1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12) points out the numerous opportunities offered by Yahweh God to the Israelites in the desert: The crossing of the sea, the destruction of the Egyptians, the fiery cloud, the manna, the water from the rock, the ten commandments, the covenant, the tent of his dwelling among them, and countless mighty deeds.
Still, the only “fruits” from most of them were grumbling, complaining, infidelity and idolatry. So, they were struck down in the desert as a warning to us all.
How blessed we are! Within the time God has given us, we are surrounded by his care, his grace, his Holy Spirit and his Word. Yet, respecting our freedom, and heeding the Church’s supplications, the Lord waits a while longer, hoping that we let him in our hearts to motivate us to joyful fruit bearing of love and service.
Every year, Lent should be seen as the best opportunity, the most appropriate time for the divine vinedresser to hoe and to manure around our roots. Thus, it should be considered the best time for opening our hearts to the Lord. I think this is the reason why, on the Third Sunday of Lent, the Church offers us this beautiful passage from Exodus on which to reflect. (Exodus 3:1-8,13-15)
What intrigued Moses was the fact that the bush was aflame but not consumed. That is God for us: the most powerful force, not for a prolonged period, but forever!
God is indeed love—forever! And he is love that is immediately proven as such: “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering. Therefore, I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
This is fully consistent with his name: “I am who am.”
Here is how God would “unpack” his name for our benefit and comfort:
I exist from all eternity without anyone causing my existence; I am the only and exclusive absolute; I utter my Word and anything I call into existence, begins instantaneously to exist. Apart from me nothing can be. It will instantly cease to be the moment I stop thinking of it. This ismy name forever; this is my title for all generations. There is no beginning, no end to my being, to my loving. Therefore, there is no end to anyone whom I choose to be the object of my love. You are the object of my love; also you are the object of my love; and you, and you, and you, and you, too! Everyone for whom my Son shed his blood on the cross is the object of my love.
Now that we have a better grasp of God’s name and of how it affects us so personally, so directly, we realize that his declaration of us being the object of his love is designed to generate in us an irresistible desire to bear continuous and joyous fruits of love and service.
However, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, our first reaction to this declaration of being the object of God’s endless love should be one of embarrassment as we have wasted a big portion of the time allotted to us displaying the sterility of our aloofness about the plight of others and the futility of secular pursuits which will never fill the void in our soul.
Now is the time to repent, lest our ability to love and to care will atrophy. It is Lent! Now is the time to be saddened by the meagerness of our yield. It is Lent! Now is the time to prove our sincere concern for the state of our suffering brothers and sisters. It is Lent!
Hence, now is the time to open wide our hearts to God’s love. They will begin to burn with genuine care and with willingness to be the servant of others without being consumed by weariness. I am certain that God witnesses continuously all the affliction and all the trials of his children, including ours, of course. So, my task as your ministerial priest is to direct my and your gaze towards the Crucifix to remember that there must be no limit to our loving and serving to alleviate that affliction and those trials.
But also, we ought to look at the Risen Lord, to learn that our generous bearing fruit is the result of the happy combination of uninterrupted outpouring of grace and our bold and generous self-giving.
