CRUNCH TIME
INTRODUCTION
Today I’d like to talk about time - not just any time, but
judgment time, crunch time. If I had to give a title to this homily, it would
be called, “Crunch Time.”
CRUNCH TIME
Crunch time is judgment time.
It’s when a game is coming down to the wire.
It’s when there is one second left in a football game and
the field goal kicker is lining up for a long field goal - in hopes of winning
the game.
Or the basketball player has two foul shots to tie the game.
Sometimes this is the time the other team calls, “Time out”
if they have one, to make the kicker or the shooter feel the pressure.
Crunch time.
In sports the game teaches us about time - and about life.
We’ve practiced - but the game is what counts - and the game within the game - whether it’s the first game of a new season -
the playoffs - the regionals - or the championship game at the end of the
season.
It’s crunch time.
END OF THE YEAR
READINGS
Today’s readings contain these strange images of danger and
doom. We have these end of the world type readings this time, every time, at
the end of the year.
Next Sunday - November 24th - we’ll have the Feast of Christ the King, the
last Sunday of the church year. Then on the following Sunday, December 1st, we’ll have the beginning of a new Church year, the First
Sunday of Advent.
Time - as well as the Church’s Liturgies gets interesting at
this time of the year.
MALACHI
In today’s first reading from Malachi, the prophet, we have
the image of the oven. The oven tests the cook. The proof is in the pudding.
But Malachi is using the image of an oven or a refinery that
burns stubble and tests metal. There are things we need and want to get rid of
and there are precious things we want to save.
We’ve all heard the phrase, to test one’s metal. The fire burns off the
impurities. We find out what we really got when we put the metal to the fire,
to the test.
GOSPEL
In today’s gospel Jesus and his disciples go down to the big
city of Jerusalem. His disciples are fascinated by the temple, the jewelry in
it, the gold, the bigness and vastness of it all. But Jesus says that it’s all
going to be destroyed. It’s not going to make it in the test of time.
I’ve only been to a tiny bit of the Middle East: parts of
Israel, Turkey and Greece. I’ve seen a
few ruined temples. If you go to Israel, to Jerusalem you can go to the wailing
wall, the wall of the destroyed temple.
But the world has plenty of places that have not passed the test of time
and time is a great tester.
You can translate today’s gospel into many examples. We’re
driving down the road in a not so fancy car. It has lots of miles on it. A
fancy, very expensive, brand new car goes flying by. Envy. Fascination. Wow.
Then we see a tractor trailer truck of crushed old cars go by.
Fascination. What are we fascinated by?
Time tells us where the really valuable is - to us.
TIME IS FUNNY
Time is funny. Time is relative.
Take a minute.
A minute is 60 seconds every time. Look at your watch, clock
or cell phone, and take a minute to check it out - if I right about that.
I remember a digital watch I once had: a Timex. In time - after a lot of use - the little
buttons on the side were not working too well. I took some WD 40 and sprayed it
into the buttons on the side. Well, I ruined the watch. The face became a sea
of black liquid. Ugh.
So I had to go looking for an old watch. It’s a wind up
watch. It still works. It’s passing the test of time. I can see the second
hand.
A minute takes a minute, 60 seconds every time.
But time is also relative. I love the old saying. I use it
every time. “How long a minute takes depends on which side of the bathroom door
you’re on.”
How long a minute takes depends on who’s speaking or who’s
preaching.
How long a minute takes is whether you’re the one who
spilled the coffee on the restaurant
table and you’re hoping a waitress shows up any minute now.
How long a minute takes depends on whether you’re watching
the last minute of a football game or you’re playing Jeopardy.
Time is funny.
The nurse or doctor’s assistant puts you in one of those
small rooms at the doctor’s office and says, “The doctor will be in to see you
in a minute.”
Time is relative.
TIME TELLS THE
TRUTH
Time tells the truth. It might take time, but the wheel of
justice eventually balances.
Time tells whether what we bought was really worth it.
Time tells us the truth about whom we work with, whom we marry, whom we spend time with.
“Time will tell” as the old saying goes.
A NEW HIRE
How many times have we heard this? A person is hires a
person who looks great on paper. He has a great resume. He had a great interview.
The person was hired. A few weeks later the boss or the person who hired this
new person says: “Wow did we make a
mistake.” The guy was horrible with women. He couldn’t stand having a woman as
his boss. They had to buy him out to get rid of him.
MARRIAGE
It’s the same with marriage. He seems great on a date. He’s
so good looking. Wow. She is gorgeous. But can she cook as they used to say?
“The glances over cocktails that seem so sweet, don’t seem
so sweet over shredded wheat.”
What is he like after the honeymoon?
People forget they are marrying the father or mother of
their kids. They are marrying a companion for life.
Time tells all.
POEM
I like a poem by John Crowe Ransom. It’s a tough poem.
Woooo! Tough stuff. Judgment stuff. Truth stuff. Time will tell stuff. Ugh stuff.
It’s about a man and a woman. It’s about a man seeing a
group of beautiful school girls with beautiful hair. They are playing or
running in their blue school uniforms in a playground. There are a few words in
the poem that we don’t hear too often.
A sward is a grassy patch.
A fillet is a ribbon that holds one’s hair in place.
A seminary here is the girls’ school.
BLUE GIRLS
Twirling your
blue skirts, travelling the sward
Under the
towers of your seminary,
Go listen to
your teachers old and contrary
Without
believing a word.
Tie the white
fillets then about your lustrous hair
And think no
more of what will come to pass
Than
bluebirds that go walking on the grass
And
chattering on the air.
Practise your
beauty, blue girls, before it fail;
And I will
cry with my loud lips and publish
Beauty which
all our power shall never establish,
It is so
frail.
For I could
tell you a story which is true:
I know a lady
with a terrible tongue,
Blear eyes
fallen from blue,
All her
perfections tarnished -- and yet it is not long
Since she was
lovelier than any of you.
CONCLUSION: CHURCH
TIME
Let me make a conclusion.
Sunday mass is church time. Different time. It’s one hour
out of the 168 hours of the week. It’s judgment time. We come to church and we
look at the rest of the week.
How are we doing on our job? Putting in time or really doing
a great job.
How are we doing as a member of our family? Presence.
Listening with each other. Meals. Etc.
How are we doing in our primary responsibilities?
If I am a teacher, how am I doing?
If I am a student, how am I doing?
At Sunday mass time we take the time to review the week --
to check things out. Things might look
good on paper. A person might have lots of promise. But in the crunch time of
everyday life, we see reality. The proof is in the pudding.
Church time is often like that time in the doctor’s office.
We’re in the room waiting for the doctor. We felt a lump or our left side is
numb or we’re not feeling right. We sit there doing some serious thinking.
That’s judgment time. That’s crunch time.
We take tests and a few days feel like ages as we look at
the phone waiting.
Time will tell what is going on.
