St. Augustine of Hippo
Saturday, June 19, 2021
Time
Here, and also in Nehemiah 11:3-9, we see the litany of names of those taken from Judah to Babylon. We see how their lives change as a result of the new exile status. Those who guarded access to the king now guard the Levite encampment. Their work remains much the same, yet everything has changed.
In the world . . . days go by and others come. No day remains. Even as we speak, the moments pass, the first syllable pressed on by the second that is waiting impatiently to be heard . . . Nothing stands still. Nothing remains firm in time. We must therefore love the one who through whom the times came to be, so that we might be set free from time and become established in eternity, where time and the changes it brings no longer exist. (MAGNIFICAT December 16, 2008, Meditation of the Day – Augustine of Hippo)
Time is a concept we human beings have contrived to measure and mete out as if it were a commodity. Yet for God, time, and space as well, are far more complex than we can understand. We regard it as miracle that Jesus died, rose, returned with his scared and sacred body to abide with his apostles as we establish his Church. We see this reincarnation as impossible, yet testimony that we have heard tells us that this is so it truly happened.
I realize, as I sit and meditate on the Jews going into exile, that each of us experiences separations in our lives: separations from loved ones, from loved places, from loved times. Yet always the memory remains. Nothing tangible remains firm in time . . . except Christ. For this reason it so very important for us to find our way to him, to take and hold him fast once we stumble upon the place where he speaks to us. For this alone is our core. This alone is our seat of authority. This alone is our only reason for being.
And so we pray for all of those who find themselves oppressed by time, oppressed by space, oppressed by forces beyond their control. From today’s MAGNIFICAT intercessions:
Jesus, God, abide with us . . . You will never forsake those who seek you.
For the poor who are oppressed by the commercialism of the season: may they be filled with the liberating power of your gifts. You will never forsake those who seek you.
For all those who are oppressed by the pressures of the season: may they be filled with your peace. You will never forsake those who seek you.
For all those who are oppressed by the prospect of loneliness at this season: may they be filled with the companionship and of your presence. You will never forsake those who seek you.
Nothing stands still. Nothing remains firm in time. We must therefore love the one who through whom the times came to be, so that we might be set free from time and become established in eternity, where time and the changes it brings no longer exist.
For more on Augustine of Hippo, visit the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy at: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/augustine/
A Favorite Noontime from December 16, 2008.
Cameron, Peter John. “Meditation of the Day.” MAGNIFICAT. 16.12 (2008). Print.
Image from: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=418
The Noontimes 