Third Sunday of Ordinary Time

I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having them, those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away.

None of us really imagines our time running out, at least not when we are healthy and young. We see all these people in the world who die, but rarely do we think about how that might happen to us at any time. There are no guarantees we will live to see the end of this day or the beginning of the next. We may assume so and make plans, but we never truly know when our time on earth will come to an end. This is what we are reminded of in today’s reading and we would do well to heed its advice. Our time is running out and we should use it to the best of our abilities and for the greatest good. We often find reasons to waste time and that is what we are warned against. We should be spending our energies on heavenly and spiritual pursuits and not on worldly ones. Sure, there are times when we need to rest and relax, but we should keep a close eye on those times to make sure they are rejuvenating us and not draining us of time better spent doing good works.

Is our time spent on worldly or spiritual pursuits? How can we make heavenly things the focus of our lives? What can we do to avoid wasting time?

O Lord, help us to focus our time, talents, and treasures on fulfilling your will and not our own.

Amen.