It's About Time (1)

By the grace of God and the generosity of the core group of SGD leaders,[1] I find myself the newly designated Editor of this blog. As such, I am expected to procure and produce content at certain intervals, make adjustments, and take on various other unspecified duties as the need arises. I am to write and to edit.

This fact is not in itself remarkable; what is striking is that this assignment was given without any scrutiny or background checks or other vetting procedures (not even a sample of my writing), without a probationary period, and without any parameters or limitations. Instead, in a closed-door meeting at an unpublicized location, the core group discussed various high-level topics, including the next stage of their own valiant efforts to make this group flourish, and then entrusted me with the responsibility to write for, with, and from the Sodality of Garcia Diego. I ask them to pray for my efforts. I likewise ask for the intercession of the patrons of our group and of St. Francis de Sales.

In my inaugural post, shouldn’t I say something profound? Or at least offer vicarious profundity by means of a compendium of my favorite quotes?

Or perhaps I should look at the calendar and then somehow brilliantly tie together the literary and spiritual legacies of 1) St. Peter Damian, O.S.B., Doctor of the Church (d. 1073, and whose feast is now celebrated on this day), 2) the poet and Jesuit martyr Ven. Robert Southwell (who happens to have died—specifically to have been hanged, drawn, and quartered—on this day in 1595), 3) Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman (who happens to have been born on this day in 1801).

Father Time, 17th-century woodcut

Alas, no, I have nothing profound or brilliant to say, even to mark this date and time. I have wasted my time (and perhaps yours).  I could perhaps say something about seasonal time, and the time of the liturgical year as we move toward Lent. 

Maybe that will be another post, another time. Time passes, presses…I waste time, fret about time, mark time, but never make time—I sometimes find time, and I always use it. Lately I’ve been worried and anxious about time—about running out of time—of time moving too quickly for what I need to do, and too slowly for whatever I might be waiting for. Hence this post’s title—for all its faults, this is a post about Time. 

I have just been reminded that all this fretting about time is un-Christian. I close with some thoughts of Thomas Merton’s[3] that I need to spend more time contemplating:

“To understand the attitude of the Christian and of the Liturgy towards time we must have a profound understanding of Christian hope and trust. Fundamentally the Christian is at peace with time because he is at peace with God…Time has now come to terms with man’s freedom…Time for the Christian is then the sphere of his spontaneity, a sacramental gift in which he can allow his freedom to deploy itself in joy, in the creative virtuosity of choice that is always blessed with the full consciousness that God wants His sons to be free, that He is glorified by their freedom.”

The sentences I omitted refer to the state of sin vs. state of grace. Obviously, the lines I quoted refer to the Christian in the state of grace. These pages were just what I needed to read this week, caught as I was in self-centered worries about time. Incidentally, consider this a reminder to go to confession—it is Shrovetide, after all.

As we move toward Lent, let us remember that our Redeemer’s life, suffering, death, and resurrection sanctified Time itself. +

---

[1] “Core group” seems to be generally accepted terminology at this moment, at least until such time as the charter is completed and accepted. These leaders could be called the Group of Five (G5). The phrase “Founding members” does not apply, partly because two of the founders (the “royal couple”) have left, and partly because the present writer joined later--“as one born out of due time” (1 Cor 15:8). For now, the number of officers (and titles and duties thereof) is still tentative.

[2] Merton, Thomas. Seasons of Celebration. Chapter 3: “Time and the Liturgy.” published 1950-1965.