Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C Gn 18:1-10a Ps 15: 2-3, 3-4,5 Col 1:24-28 Lk 10:38-42
Jesus’ response to Martha seems very pertinent to us today. “[Insert your name, and insert your name again], you are anxious and worried about many things.” We fill up our lives with appointments and noise, and even our quiet moments are not that quiet. We are connected to phones and devices to constantly be in touch with whomever is texting, poking or whatever the terminology is for the on-line version of communication that we use.
Why did Jesus say that Mary had chosen the better part? It was because Mary was giving one of the most valuable gifts we have to give — the gift of time, our time. Time is God’s gift to us, and how we spend our gift determines our lives.
Our time is limited, and it is meant to be used intentionally. It is one of the most precious things that we can give to another. It is the only thing we can give that really allows a loving relationship to grow.
One of the greatest tragedies is to throw away this valuable, limited gift, and it is almost an equal tragedy to waste this gift on that which is passing and of limited value. Mary, in giving her time to Jesus, is choosing to allow him to consecrate her entire life.
So, how do we begin a different way of marking time intentionally, and intentionally giving Jesus our time. As a Church we have a whole liturgy that is marked by time. It is the Liturgy of the Hours. Traditionally, it is marked by the great bells of the day, morning and evening prayer. The other hours are prayed during the day and at night. The Office of Readings is usually prayed first thing in the morning but can be prayed at any time during the day.
The bulk of the Liturgy of the Hours is made up of Scripture, especially the psalms and canticles. Many people are intimidated to pray it because they thought it was only something that priests and nuns prayed. Or if they tried it, they became confused with all the ribbons in the book and all the page turning you had to do to celebrate the hours. When I gave one young man who is now a priest of our diocese his first set of the Liturgy of the Hours, he said it read like stereo instructions.
But marking the hours of the day with prayer is an ancient and valuable custom. The majority of the prayers in it are prayers that Jesus himself prayed and probably knew by heart. Praying the hours opens us up to praying with people throughout the world and throughout time through every human emotion, desire and aspiration.
There is a new vehicle being published by Word on Fire (www.wordonfire.org/pray), the initiative of Bishop Robert Barron. It is simply called the Liturgy of the Hours. It includes Morning Prayer, Evening Pray and Night Prayer. There are no ribbons; everything you need is together. Morning and Evening Prayer take about seven to eight minutes to pray, and night prayer takes about five minutes.
This is not an infomercial, but encouragement to consider an affordable way to begin spending time with Jesus. Try just one of the hours. Stay faithful to that one prayer time. Later you might want to add a second hour and then a third. Try praying one of the hours as a family. St. Pope Paul VI called the Liturgy of the Hours the highest form of family prayer.
The whole purpose of the Liturgy of the Hours is that in spending those small amount of minutes with Jesus each day, we make him a part of every minute of our lives.
Msgr. Timothy Keeney is pastor of Incarnation, Charlottesville.