THREE  TIME  PERIODS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Three Time Periods.”

There are 3 time periods - 3 time zones - 3 states  that we can be in.

Sometimes in our life we have stood on the edge of 2 states or even 3 or 4 as in Four Corners in the south west. There are kids games like “potsy” - a New York City term - where kids jump from box to box marked with chalk.

So the title of my homily is “Three Time Periods”.

They are the Past, the Present and the Future.

They are Before, After and Now.

They are Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.

WHERE AM I NOW?

To be human is to have the ability to choose where we want to be.

To be human is to have the ability to be in all 3 in a moment.

To be human is to have the ability to be in all 3 at once.

To be human is to have one period predominate - as an “It all depends.”

To be human is to get stuck in a state where we might not want to be.

To be human is to use verbs like, “remember” - as in, “I remember when we used to” or the verb to “hope” - as in, “I hope we have an easy winter.” or “want” - as in, “I want what I want when I want it - like right now.”

Consciousness of where we are at any given moment is an awareness skill that is worth having - and worth reflecting on - as in this short sermon.

ANIMALS

I wonder about animals at times.  I haven’t taken courses on animal psychology - etc. etc. etc.  How does time work with animals. I’ve never seen dog or cats with watches on.

How does memory work with animals - as in elephants heading for a water hole of 25 years ago - when they are in a drought season right here, right now - and can’t find water in their present surroundings.

TODAY’S READINGS

Today’s 2 readings trigger these thoughts about wondering where people are in their time zones. King Antiochus is wandering around like a scavenger - hoping to rob a Persian city.  That’s future looking. He’s also pondering about his past - the destruction he did -  but also worried about dying in his future -  because of what he did to Jerusalem - in his awful past. He’s a mixed up guy.

Today’s gospel is all about worrying about the future - which some people who get married again - worry  about when they die and are “uh ohing” about their future - if they meet their earlier spouse.  It tells this fun story and attack story about life after death - when 7 brothers die and all married the same woman.

LEARNINGS ABOUT TIME

So there are learnings and wonderings about time that we can consider.  For example, here are a few:

People can get stuck in one period of time  to the detriment of another time.

The hereafter is not going to be what we expect it to be.

We can try, but we can’t change the past.

Forgiveness is a better skill to have than regrets.

Wars are always happening if we look at enough time periods - like there will always be wars in the middle east. Here’s a  few going on in today’s first reading.

THREE QUESTIONS:

How am I right now?  What happened. Next?

CONCLUSION: A QUOTE

Someone said: “You are younger today than you ever will be again. Make use of it for the sake of tomorrow.”