“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Another year, another step towards salvation. That is how we ought to engage with the passage of time. The month of January is often full of reflection on time and what we hope to do with it. In our continued anticipation of the 2000th anniversary of salvation, this attitude can certainly be incorporated into our prayer life as well. Time itself is a gift of God, something precious entrusted to us, and what we do with the time given us has consequences that extend far beyond time. If only we knew, if only we understood how precious time is and how profoundly it can affect eternity. On the other hand, it is in understanding the value of eternity that we learn the importance of using time well. As with so many other areas in life, we often “know not” the value of time and how we use it.
As with all questions of value, it is in looking to Jesus Christ our Lord that we learn best. We are fast approaching the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, February 2, which celebrates the time Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the temple after his birth. This is one of the four feasts we’ve chosen to give particular attention to in our Great Novena, anticipating it with fasting and celebrating it with some form of communal feasting. Fortunately, the feast falls on Sunday this year, making it easier for everyone to observe it liturgically.
The reason we chose this feast is what it teaches us about what we offer to God. It is of course in observance of Jewish Law that Joseph and Mary bring the boy to the temple and offer sacrifice, but it is also part of God’s providence. God willed that, even as a newborn child, one of the first things the Son should do is offer himself to the Father. Not only that, but this comes very quickly after the circumcision, when he first sheds his blood. At 40 days old, he then enters into the temple and is offered to the Father. This is why the feast falls 40 days after December 25. This anticipates that, 40 days after his death and resurrection - when he shed his blood - Jesus would ascend into heaven, into the true temple to present himself to the Father on our behalf.
This pattern of appearing to the world, shedding blood, and being offered to the Father “bookends” Jesus’ entire life. That should tell us something about how to view our time, our life on earth. All of Jesus’ life, all his time in this world is ordered towards this sacrificial offering to the Father. Even though the first few years of Jesus’ life are before his human nature is conscious enough to do anything, he is already offering and being offered. Even though the vast majority of Jesus’ earthly life is unknown to us (30 years in Nazareth), it is all caught up in this offering. Why?
For our salvation. Jesus’ entire life is characterized by sacrificial offering to the Father not just for the sake of sacrifice, but for the sake of our forgiveness. When Jesus utters the words “Father, forgive them” from the cross, he has not yet entered into heaven to stand before the Father on our behalf. And yet, in one sense, he did already go before the Father when, as a newborn babe, he was presented in the temple, which is a sign and copy of the heavenly sanctuary. He can make this prayer with confidence because he has already connected his time on earth to his eternal mission in heaven. So it is that Jesus, before his sacrifice is even completed, can ask forgiveness for sins we haven’t yet committed, sins we don’t yet know we’ve committed.
“Time” is one of those concepts that, until you think about it, seems obvious. But moments like the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple and his prayer from the Cross shed light on the fact that it is much more mysterious than we first think. These moments and others from salvation history are indicators to us that time is connected to eternity. That’s why philosophers and sages have always puzzled over the exact nature of time. We cannot fully comprehend it because it is connected to something beyond comprehension.
This kind of reflection should inspire two responses. First, it should inspire awe and wonder at God’s creation. Allowing ourselves to ponder the mystery of time and eternity and God’s plan should humble us and cause us to wonder at God and praise him for the ways he transcends us. Second, it should move us to take seriously the gift of time and to seek to use it well. Even though we “know not” what time is, we know it is given to us by a loving God. Even though we “know not” all the ways that the seconds and minutes and hours of our entire life will fit into God’s plan, we know that we can offer them, all of them to the Father just as Jesus offered his entire life from beginning to end.
So, as we approach this Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on February 2, take some time to simply wonder at God’s plan. Every time we go to Mass or participate in any liturgy of the Church, we enter into a sacred act of wonder. Many people say they “don’t get anything” out of the Mass or other sacraments. Well, that’s in part because they have the wrong expectations. A fundamental part of any liturgy is praise of God. It isn’t expected to do something or give you something. The point is simply to praise, to wonder, to soak up the awe and to express it, whether or not that gives us a tangible experience of something pleasant. Yes, of course there are aspects of the liturgy that can teach us or encourage us or feed us, but we’ll miss something essential if we overlook the purely outward, offering-minded aspect of praise, awe, and wonder.
One practical thing we can do to engage with this offering mindset is to see each day as part of what we offer to God. Each time you go to Mass, think of yourself as gathering up each of the minutes, hours, and days that have passed between this Mass and the last one. Picture each day/hour as a turtledove or pigeon, as a coin, or as something tangible and valuable to you. Then offer them up like Joseph and Mary offering Jesus. Place whatever mental image you’ve used on the altar while the priest prepares the bread and wine. Unite your time to his time so that you can unite yourself to his eternal love, his undeserved mercy. Even if you “know not” what your days are worth, life them up. If Joseph and Mary can present a baby, who doesn’t know what’s going on, so can you lift up your own muddled mess of a life.
And when it comes to February 2, go ahead and mark your calendars. If you can, plan to fast moderately for the 3 days before as a sign of offering your whole life up to God. Then, plan to feast! Simeon and Anna both spent their whole lives in the temple, offering themselves to God. They rejoiced to see that their lifelong offering was united to this tiny child brought in by Joseph and Mary. You and I should celebrate too! Gather friends or family or fellow parishioners or even random neighbors in need. Serve food and drink, tell stories about your lives and God’s work in them, discuss interesting thoughts about time and eternity, sin and salvation, love and mercy. And know that Jesus Christ looks on you with love, rejoicing in the time you’ve used well, praying for forgiveness for the time you’ve wasted even before you realize it’s gone. All time is his and even if we don’t know what that means, if we give it back to him, we have nothing to fear.