I have an interest in the faces of clocks and their various shapes and sizes.
In recent years there seems to have been a revolution in clock making, with the hands coming in all shapes and sizes. The numbers too can be regular, Roman or, what seems to be the most accurate, digital.
You can check your own interest in time by counting the number of clocks you glance at everyday, in the living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, on the microwave, VCR, in the car, on the computer, on your desk, in the shopping mall, in church and on your wrist. When we know what time it is, we feel grounded, connected and in touch with reality.
Time is something that is difficult to describe - you cannot see it, feel it, smell it or taste it.
St. Augustine in the 15th century asked, "What is time?" and answered the question himself by saying, "If no one asks me; I know. If someone asks me to explain it; I don't know." Normally we talk about time by describing how we spend it. We say "time flies," "pass a good time," "time out" and when we need a rest, "down time." We say that we go through "good times" and "bad times," "fun times" and "sad times." In looking to the future we say, "Will it ever arrive?" So often we are going "against time" even first thing in the morning!
The great thinker Aristotle, almost 2,500 years ago, introduced the notion of time by measuring motion along an imaginary line of history. From this we got our understanding of linear time and the concept of time being past, present and future.
To enable you as a reader to get in touch with how you relate to time, consider these questions.
· How much of your day do you spend in thinking and planning your future?
· How much of your conversation is about the past?
· How conscious are you of being in the present?
Advent is the season when we traditionally are invited to slow down in order to be creative in shaping our lives. Time is God's free gift to us and in Advent we need "whole time"- past, present and future as a unity. The Advent wreath is a powerful symbol of wholeness in relation to time. The wreath represents the three comings of Christ, the historical coming in human form, the spiritual coming into our lives today and the final coming at the end of time in his glorified humanity. Collectively these point to past, present and future.
Advent is the season when we consciously consider the birth of Christ now in our midst. Being open to an encounter with Christ will only happen in the present. Finding ways to slow down our activities and our thinking will aid in widening the gap between the past and the future, enabling us to meet Christ now. The encounter with Christ will be when we are unaware of time, and are simply engaged and responding fully to the people and the events that occur in our world.
When departing a cinema after an exciting movie, have you ever caught yourself looking at your watch and saying, "Wow, I never thought I was in there for that length of time." The indication is that you were fully engaged with the movie and didn't notice the time passing - you were in the present moment.
One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself is to be in the present moment, fully. When living in the "now" moment, we have opportunities to be Christ for others. We act as Christ by making the possible happen, by seeing and encouraging in others what they may not see in themselves. Caring for people - the young and especially the old - and knowing some people have had to travel in a way we have never had to go. By nurturing the earth as a faithful steward, we learn from its ways of harvest time and fallow time.
During the third week of Advent, starting on Dec. 17 through the 24, we are refreshed by the ancient "O Antiphons" which come from the sixth century and express the Old Testament's longing for the coming of the Redeemer.
You will hear the "O Antiphons" said or sung during the Alleluia verse at Eucharist.
Each antiphon is divided into three parts: 1) a title for God proclaimed in the Old Testament, 2) God's action in our lives and 3) a prayer that we may respond to God's generosity.
The first antiphon on Dec. 17 reads "O Come, Wisdom of our God Most High, guiding creation with power and love, teach us to walk in the path of knowledge."
The wisdom of God is directing the world in its unfolding. Time is a gift to be used in creating our lives, and faith is what enables us to recognize the encounter with Christ today. The second coming of Christ this Christmas is very real. It is just as real as his first coming was and as his return will be. These "comings" are simply different. You will meet Christ now in the Eucharist, in the Word that is proclaimed, in your family members and community, in the homeless on the street, the new born child, the senior citizen and in the beauty of the earth.
May the Wisdom of God and the power of divine love teach us to walk in the ways of Christ, who is the wisdom and love of God made present.
Come, Lord Jesus; come and walk with us in time.
Espaço Tranquila 
