on time
"People came to Jesus with the objection, 'Why do John's disciples and those of the Pharisees fast while Yours do not?' " —Mark 2:18
The people in today's Gospel reading thought it was time to fast, although it was time to feast. They had the right idea but the wrong time. You may be doing something appropriate to the way things were twenty years ago but inadequate for the present. For example, if you send your children to the school you attended in your own youth, you may be making a big mistake. That school had its time, but its time is not now, if you want your children to be followers of Jesus.
If you talk to your children about sexual temptations as little as your parents talked to you, you will find that what worked for your parents may not work for you. Times have changed. If you pray with your children as little as your parents prayed with you, your family may suffer much more from its lack of prayer than the family you grew up in.
In our time, prayer has become more and more our only hope. "There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens" (Eccl 3:1). Are you on time or out of sync with God's present unfolding of His plan of salvation?
Prayer: Jesus, be Lord of my time and timing.
Promise: "In the days when He was in the flesh, He offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to God, Who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence." —Heb 5:7
Praise: From the Church-required minimum of fasting, Robert has now practiced fasting two or three days a week and has seen an amazing growth in his spiritual life.
Reference: (Order our tapes to help you increase your prayer life: Daily Prayers on audio AV 62-3 or video V-62, Liturgy of the Hours on audio AV 89-3 or video V-89, Married Couples Praying Together, audio AV 116-1, video V-116, Family Prayer on audio AV 59-1 or video V-59.)
Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, June 17, 2008
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