Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time__A - When the Clock Strikes Zero_111223

Deacon Tom Writes,

"When the Clock Strikes Zero”

 

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Science is shedding remarkable light about the cosmos in which we live. The Hubbell telescope gives us fantastic images of worlds, stars, and galaxies hundred of million, even billions of light years away, images of universes and suns being born and dying. Scientists tell us that our solar system had a beginning and one day our sun will become a super nova that will consume our planet and the others in our universe as well.

That big picture, that notion that all existence is limited and finite escapes us for the most part as we go about our daily lives. Sure, we may watch NOVA or a science fiction movie that explores the theme of a “countdown clock”. But the thought that the days of our lives and those of our loved ones and friends are finite is something that, sadly, doesn’t change our behavior very much.

There is a commercial on TV that pictures men and women walking an eight-foot-long check on a leash as if it was a dog. The check is written out various amounts, usually in the millions. In each case the number represents how much money they will need to enjoy retirement. The commercial is presented by the financial service firm hoping to attract new clients with the hope of helping them reach that rather large retirement savings goal. This is a great marking message to encourage those watching to save for retirement.

How about a commercial like this? The Ad scans people walking alone a busy street, shopping, running for a taxi, jogging in the park, sitting at their desk at work or school. And, on their shoulder is a digital countdown clock revealing how many seconds they had remaining in this life. A person then asks, “And what are you doing with the time you have left?”

I think the Ad Execs would consider a commercial of this nature to be too dark a message for us to handle. And it would be if, shown with the frequency Ads get on TV! But what a provocative message that enables us to connect with the story of the ten virgins in today’s gospel, “Are we prepared for when the clock strikes zero?”

You see, our reading from the Book of Wisdom is our guide on how to prepare ourselves for that last moment when the clock strikes zero so that we can experience the best possible life for all the joys God desires us to enjoy on this side of paradise. By loving wisdom, by keeping vigil with her she will lead us to the object of her and our desire, “O Lord our God”, the bridegroom for whom we keep vigil, and from whom nothing can detract us, the one for whom “our soul is thirsting”.

We have incredible opportunity to accomplish so much good each and every day with Wisdom to guide us and prepare us for when our clock strikes zero.


Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com and listen in as the three deacs engage in a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those thinking of coming into or leaving it.

 

OTHER RESOURCE

 

Recommended Reading: God Is All In All by Fr. Thomas Keating. God Is All in All introduces some mighty themes—including nature as revelation, mystical teachings on interdependence, new cosmologies of religion and science, and evolutionary understandings of what it means to be human—in a much-needed update to theologies Keating describes as “out of date.”

 

Outlining a three-part spiritual journey from recognizing a divine Other, to becoming the Other, to the realizing there is no other, Keating boldly states “Religion is not the only path to God.” Thoroughly Christian and fully interspiritual, this much-beloved outlier Trappist monk offers a message of “compassion, not condemnation” in a contemplative embrace of the cross as a symbol of humility, inviting those who would become co-redeemers of the world to join him in the kind of meditation and contemplative prayer that allows the transcendent self to emerge.

 

Recommended YouTube Video:  The Dimension of Listening The beloved and Reverend Joseph Boyle of St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado, who was mentored by Fr. Thomas Keating, explores the dimensions of listening through a series of charming images and profound stories. A favorite prayer of his was from Dag Hammarskjold, “For all that has been, thank you. For all that is to come, yes.”

This talk was recorded at the 2006 Contemplative Outreach Annual Conference in St. Louis, Missouri.  The theme was "Transformative Listening:  Whose Voice Are We Listening To?" For other talks from this event by Abbot Joseph and Fr. Thomas Keating, go to.