Homily
There are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, and 52 weeks in a year. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, the week, or the year we often wonder “How did time pass by so quickly?”
My grade 12 high school class had a sign that read “Time will pass, will you?” I did pass, but strangely enough that’s one of the few things I remember from grade 12.
Writers, philosophers, and people from all walks of life have reflected on time. Two friends were chatting and one said: “Time is money.” The other said “That is even more true when you are talking to a lawyer.” Time can mean different things to different people.
Everyone and especially religions have speculated on the general notions of time and eternity. Today, the word “mindfulness” has particularly become popular but is not new. All cultures, in one way or another, have emphasized the importance of slowing down and being more mindful of the time we have.
Has anyone here ever experienced a Japanese tea ceremony? I am very fortunate to have attended several. There are very few other things I have experienced that have forced me to be so mindful of the seconds, minutes, and everything around me.
The Japanese tea ceremony is usually an hour but can take up to 4 hours. It takes over 10 years to be certified as a master to learn the over 300 different ceremonies. Every action of both the guest and the master are mindful and particular. The passing of time becomes secondary to the beauty of the ceremony of preparing the water, cleaning the utensils, mixing the tea, admiring the decorations on the bowl, and of course, finally drinking the tea. We have gotten used to doing everything so quickly that we often miss the beauty of the moment, the beauty of the people we are with, and the beauty of the things we are doing.
Prayer and in particular the Divine Liturgy is meant to slow us down so we can appreciate the seconds, minutes, days, weeks, and years God has given us. We sometimes want shorter prayers so we can get on with the rest of our week. Actually, our prayers here in Church should help us be more mindful of God’s presence in our lives, the blessings we have, and the people God has given us because without these, life is meaningless.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells a story about two people who went to the temple to pray. The Pharisee brags about how good he is and how bad he thought everyone else is, whereas the Publican bows his head, beats his breast, and says “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” Jesus places the actions and words of the publican as an example for us of true prayer, mindfulness, and self-awareness.
In today’s culture that focuses so much on looking good and feeling good, we have forgotten the more important virtue of being good. Cosmetics and fashion are multi-billion dollar industries because they give us the false illusion that how we look is more important than how we are doing on the inside and in relation to others. Unfortunately, the cost of our clothes bears absolutely no relation to the quality of our character. We have to all ask ourselves whether our desire to impress people is simply our way of hiding what is broken and hurt within us.
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