Advent Retreat (The Art of Waiting) - Second Meditation (Good Use of Time)

FIRST POINT: Using well the time given to us

PRESENTATION

Permission

As we wait patiently until the day we meet you face to face.

Now that we have considered what it means to wait for the Lord, and the most necessary virtue for waiting, that of patience, in our second meditation, we now turn to another essential aspect of the Art of Waiting, the good use of time.

Once again, recall the words of Our Lord:

Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition Chapter 6

25 ¶“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 ¶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 ¶ And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; 29 ¶ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 ¶ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 ¶ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.

God has given us now full and ample time to serve Him and to do good. Our time should be employed entirely towards the goal of winning heaven. “I gave her a time that she might do penance,” says St. John in the Apocalypse.

However, after a while, He will take that time from us, and we will no longer have even a moment for ourselves. Again St. John says:

Douay-Rheims Bible Chapter 10

6 And he swore by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven and the things which are therein, and the earth and the things which are in it, and the sea and the things which are therein: That time shall be no longer.

Then a strict account will be demanded from us of how we have used our time.

We should seriously consider how we employ our time, whether it is in useful things or in vain things. God has given us time so that we may gain heaven by growing in virtue and holiness, yet we waste so much time. When time is ended for us and the time of the Lord is come, then we will recognize the true value of time, but then it will be too late. Do not delay until then.

ILLUSTRATION

We are, I am sure, all familiar with the parable of the talents, but the scriptures always offer us something new, so let us listen again with a reflective heart:

Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition Chapter 25

The Parable of the Talents

14 ¶“For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property; 15 to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more. 17 So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 ¶ Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ 21 ¶ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 ¶ For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.* 30 ¶ “And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

How do we employ our time in useful endeavours, building upon the talents entrusted to us by God, or do we sit around doing nothing, expecting that God will reward us when we return to Him only what He gave to us with nothing more to show for it?

SECOND POINT: Looking to the Day of Judgement

PRESENTATION

When our time is ended, then God will take His time for judging us. But what does this mean? He says by the mouth of the Psalmist, “When I shall take a time, I will judge justices.” It means that He will judge with rectitude, with rigour, and by the most strict rules of justice. Hence in that day, mercy will no more have a place, and justice will be all in all.

The holiest of men trembled and feared at the thought of the supreme rigour with which God would judge them at the end of their lives. They never ceased to weep for their sins, to make satisfaction for them by penance, to examine minutely their consciences, in order to be able to pay their account in this life at the tribunal of mercy, and without waiting for the dreadful day of judgement.

Do you consider the judgment that is to come? Do you think it will be a trifling thing? Do you waste the time that has now been given to you in order to profit by Divine mercy?

ILLUSTRATION

St. John Climacus, who lived in the sixth century, tells us that there was once a holy man called Stephen, who lived to a very old age. He had, even from his youth, lived for God alone and had served Him with the greatest care all that time.

But he fell sick, and it was evident to everyone that he must soon die.

A few hours before his death, he appeared to be, as it were, out of his senses. He cast his eyes from one side to the other and seemed to be in a state of great fear. Those around his bed could not imagine what was the matter, and thinking that the Devil was tempting him with some terrible temptation, as he often does those who are dying, they began to pray for him.

Suddenly they heard him speak; they listened to the words that fell from his lips, and they knew that he imagined himself to be standing before the judgment seat of God.

“It is quite true,” they heard him say; “I did commit that sin, but to obtain pardon for it, I fasted three years on bread and water.”

Again he said: “That is also true, but I confessed it and did penance for it.”

“No,” he said as if answering another accusation. “No, I did not do that sin. I never committed a sin like that, so that is false.”

“Alas!” he said, after a pause, “I have no excuse for that sin. I must acknowledge that I committed it, and all I can do now is to throw myself on God’s infinite mercy.”

After this, the holy man expired; and the religious who saw the terror that was on his countenance, and heard the words he had said, trembled with fear. They said to one another: “If this man, whom we all looked upon as a Saint, had to undergo such a terrible judgment, what will become of us?”

Do we employ our time wisely and well, atoning for our sins and seeking to grow in virtue? Do we consider that one day we shall have to render an account of how we have made use of our time?

THIRD POINT: Doing our good works well

PRESENTATION

When our Lord says through the Psalmist, “When I shall take a time, I will judge justices,” it also means that God, in the day of judgment, will judge our just deeds as well, that is, our good works. He will examine whether we did them at the right time, for the right motive, in the right way, and under the right circumstances.

You undoubtedly do many actions that are good in themselves in your life, such as praying, going to Mass, and receiving the Holy Sacraments. But consider how you do them. How often are you distracted? How often do you fail to apply your whole mind and heart to these tasks? How often are they done in a slapdash manner with many defects mixed in with them?

For all the good works that we do poorly, we will have to be judged, and that with the utmost rigour. For ultimately, what matters is not the actual good work itself but the way we do it.

We must pray frequently to be given light to understand and realize now how solemn God’s judgment will be.

ILLUSTRATION

Among the Saints of the Middle Ages, there is no one better known or better loved than St. Elizabeth of Hungary. The people used to call her the “dear St. Elizabeth” because she was so charitable to the poor and was so kind to all who were in affliction.

Of all the works of charity she performed, that of visiting the sick in the hospitals and the poor in their homes was the one she loved most. She would watch by their sick bed, give them their food, and perform for them the menial duties of a nurse-maid with the same care and diligence as if she had been hired for that purpose.

The ladies of her household, who did not care for this kind of employment, used to try to persuade her that it was beneath the dignity of her position to perform such things.

“It will be enough for you,” they said, “to speak to them and give them words of consolation; let others attend to their wants.”

Elizabeth answered, “I am preparing for the Day of Judgment. On that day, Jesus will ask me for an account of the good works I have done for Him, and I desire to be able to say to Him, ‘You see, O Lord, when You were hungry, I gave You to eat; when You were thirsty, I gave You to drink; when You were naked, I clothed You; when You were sick, I visited You; because You said that in doing these things to the poor, I did them for Yourself. I beseech You to be indulgent, therefore, to me in the sentence, You are to pass upon me.’”

We should follow the example of St. Elizabeth, doing all of our good works for Christ Himself.

CONCLUSION

During this life of waiting for Our Lord, we have been given the precious gift of time, but we must use it well. Do we employ our time for the service of God, doing good, and performing penance for our sins and faults? Do we employ our time in useful things that will help us to gain heaven, or do we waste our time on vain pursuits? Do we expect that when Our Lord comes, He will reward us if we do not return to Him with interest the gifts He has entrusted to us? How often do we consider that our time here on earth is finite, and one day we will stand before the Most Just Judge? Finally, do we perform our good works with a right intention, doing everything for God, with the full attention of our mind and heart, knowing that when Our Lord comes, He will judge not only our faults but even how we have employed our time with good works?

Our time on earth is a time of waiting, but waiting for the Lord is truly an art. It means looking expectantly for Our Lord’s coming, it means living for our heavenly homeland, it means persevering in patience, using our time on this earth well, not wasting our time, but using it to serve God well. If we remember that, then we will truly master the Art of Waiting.