With this latest edition of Caffeine and Catholicism, a new video series designed to be your quick jolt for living out the Catholic Faith, which we’re producing at my job, I dive into the preciousness of time, and how to make the most of it.
Jim Croce wanted to bottle it and The Rolling Stones said it was on their side. Everyone it seems from the Foo Fighters to Pink Floyd and even Cyndi Lauper have sung about the impermanence of TIME.
We’ve had decades of books and movies from Back to the Future to the Terminator that explore the ramifications of tinkering with time.
But what about right now?
Even the Catechism of the Catholic Church in paragraph 1007 reminds us that “Our lives are measured by time, in the course of which we change, grow old and, as with all living beings on earth, death seems like the normal end of life.”
The end of time.
That aspect of death, the Catechism says, lends urgency to our lives: remembering our mortality helps us realize that we have only a limited time in which to bring our lives to fulfillment.
Your local parish is one of the best places your TIME can produce the greatest fruit for Christ. Maybe you’re not called to lead religious education or be a lector at Mass, but each of us have been given gifts that God calls us to use for the service of others. And what a great feeling it is when those gifts are fully realized!
My own mom could sew you a tuxedo if you needed her to. For years she’s given of her talents in repairing vestments and ironing the cloths used during Mass.
Maybe you’re handy with a saw, or a lawnmower, or are a good listener, or a powerful prayer warrior.
Chances are your parish could find a place for you to put these gifts from God to amazing use, even if in the quietest of ways.
So make a commitment to put your gifts to work, by giving up time for the sake of serving others in your local parishes.
