What Time Is It

There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for everything under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

What advantage has the worker from his toil? I have considered the task that God has appointed for the sons of men to be busied about. He has made everything appropriate to its time, and has put the timeless into their hearts, without man’s ever discovering, from beginning to end, the work which God has done. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-11)

What time is it?  If there is an appointed time for everything, how do we know when to keep those appointments; for example, when to weep and when to laugh, or when to kill and when to heal.  There are many polar opposites from which to choose, according to the author of Ecclesiastes.   

No one can determine the right time to act.  God has determined the appropriate moment or “time” for each. Human beings cannot know that moment.  Therein lies the problem for us.  We might ask, “God, is it time yet, and for what: to be silent or to speak, to love or hate?”  Perhaps if we have a properly formed conscience, we will know the answer given to us by the Holy Spirit, by Christ, and by those who teach us how to live by our Catholic faith.   

One appointed time is the third of November when we cast our votes for president and vice president.  Let’s vote with our Catholic consciences being our guide and with Jesus being our teacher. 

Deacon David Pierce