Tag Archives: time

In the time we are given

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“Jesus said to his disciples: “In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” (Mark 13:24-25)

Maybe it is as simple as the ever shortened days we live in. Days of diminished light intensity and warmth; days of growing shadows.  The same news seems a little worse. Maybe it is that the news is in fact becoming worse.  That there is a persistent of wintry shadows whose tendrils reach into the recesses of life and imagination.  Shadows that make reading the signs of the times more difficult; that make us wonder if there is a reason for Hope.  Wonder if these are the end of days. Continue reading →

How time seems to fly

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When I was a lad, the duration of time between December 1st and Christmas Day bordered on the infinite. The duration of time measured by normal standards (Sun, moon, chronometers, etc) remains the same, but the experience has been altered. What was once near infinite is now trending towards no time at all. In some sense, each of us has our own “inner time” unrelated to the passing of hours, days, and years on clocks and calendars. I had often thought it was related to some latent ratio of the duration and the time lived.  For example, the 25 days until Christmas is a significant percentage of the entire life of a six-year old child; not so much for a septuagenarian. What lasts forever for the six-year old is the blink of an eye to grandfather. While that may be true at some level, there are more technical explanations being offered these days. Continue reading →

The appointed time

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In today’s gospel (Mt 8:28-34) we encounter the story of Jesus exorcising two men possessed by demons. It is a familiar story. The demoniacs recognize the nature and authority of Jesus, realizing that he is in total control, they request that they be cast into nearby swine. Jesus complies and apparently the swine have different plans and drown themselves rather than be possessed. Continue reading →

Resolution D Passes Critical Vote

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I know you have been waiting on pins and needles for the Resolution D vote by International Bureau of Weights and Measures.  Resolution D was a vote to abolish the “leap second”, an adjustment has 50 years ago that was devised as a way to align the international atomic time scale, in use since 1967 and derived from the vibration of cesium atoms, with the slightly slower time that Earth keeps as it rotates. In effect, whenever atomic time is one second ahead, it stops for a second to allow Earth to catch up. Ten leap seconds were inserted into the atomic time scale when the fudge was unveiled in 1972. Twenty-seven more have been added since. Continue reading →

The time given

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Today’s first reading continues with the accounts in the Book of Genesis. We move from the story of Cain and Abel at the beginning of Genesis 4 to the story of Noah in Genesis 6. Let me fill in the highlights in between. The descendants of Cain are described in terms of violence (Lamech) and yet at the same time as craftsmen, nomads, and minstrels. We also learn that Adam and Eve have another son, Seth, who is described – not in terms of occupation – but in terms of the practice of worshiping God as Seth’s lineage “began to invoke the LORD by name.” (Gen 4:26). Genesis 5 is a genealogy of the generations from Seth to Noah. – and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Taking the text literally, between the sin of Cain and the Flood is a period of 1,600 years. Quite a long time to let things play out, so to speak.

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Stewardship: Time

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“Summer is Here!” Come the end of May, I always think to myself, “OK…I am on the glide path to summer relaxation. There won’t be a lot going on in the parish. This will be awesome.” Every May I suffer from the same delusion. The truth is that there is a lot that goes on in the parish, especially as it pertains to planning for the coming “new year,” which begins in September. The summer is also when there is time to begin to flesh out ideas, programs, and initiatives for the fall. Continue reading →

Admonition Eight

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Someone once described the décor in my room in the friary as a wonderful example of “early American randomness.” Random?  Really? I suspect they really meant chaos in the mathematical sense – because there is always an order present – even if it is not readily apparent.  One of my friar brothers, in his life before joining the Franciscans, was a successful interior designer whose work brought beauty in to the world from the chaos of materials and ideas. His work has graced the cover of Architectural Digest several times. Another brother teaches at a noted school of medicine. Another is a cobbler, another a tailor, and another an elementary school teacher.  We have lawyers, dentists, business executives, musicians, academics, writes, cooks, social workers, counselors, and even a candlestick maker. All different gifts to build up the fraternity of men, who like Francis, on our best days work to build up the Church. Continue reading →