Using the Time We Have
A few years ago, when I worked at the Archdiocese of Boston, our Family Life and Ecclesial Ministries team (and no, it wasn't lost on us that we were the PHLEM team..*cough* I mean FLEM team) held an event with a panel of expert" to talk to young people about all things family life. One of the panelists was Dr. Peter Kreeft. If you know me or listened to our podcast, you know he is a favorite of mine. Per usual, his wisdom didn't disappoint.
One of the women stood up, clearly overwhelmed with the state of catechesis in many of our parishes. Paraphrased, her question was this: We are allotted 45 mins of faith formation per Sunday. 10 mins are spent on everyone puttering into the classroom, removing their coats, finding a seat, and quieting down. Another 10 mins are spent on attendance, each child opening their books to the correct page, passing out handouts, finding their pencil, making announcements, etc. 10 mins are spent reviewing what we should have already learned because half the kids were absent the week before. The last 6 mins are spent with parents coming in early with questions before Mass, kids running to the restroom, etc. Ultimately, I only have about 9 minutes of uninterrupted teaching time with these kids. What do we do about that?!
You know what Dr. Kreeft said? “I suggest using the 9 minutes.”
Solid.
In last week’s post, we spoke about the right order of things—God being first in our daily life is necessary to get anything else right. But what does this look like, practically? To clothe, feed, and shelter our family takes a certain amount of work. Sure, we can buy land and homestead—chickens, a family goat, a vegetable garden… Rejoice in the togetherness of labor… Except, that isn't the reality for most families.
For example, I live on a military installation in government-assigned quarters in a city I am not from and will move from in another few months. My husband goes to work at 4:30 am and gets calls through the night, and that's when he is home and not deployed. We navigate new communities, new friends, new schools, new doctors, grocery stores, and a new parish every 12-24 months. I don't have time to grow a tomato! I "get" a lack of stability.
And yet, God still must come first.
Whether you are a military family with no idea what is happening tomorrow; a family where dad works from home and mom wears a beautiful linen apron, jars her own peach preserves, and pulls dinner from a garden; a family in the early years of parenting with babies and toddlers bounding through the house; a family with a house full of teens barricading themselves in their rooms listening to bad music and leaving all your dishes on their dresser; a family of empty nesters who count the days until you see your grands next, a family struggling in single-parent life, or a newly married family who can't imagine what life will be like with a child in your arms—we start to put God first by using the precious moments we DO have.
Use the 9 minutes.
The gift is that God is unbelievably generous with time. When we give Him 9 minutes, somehow we have 18, then 25, and on and on. We can never outdo God in generosity.
This week, we are learning to pray like Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. (Fun fact, we released this PGS last liturgical year, and Facebook took it down for "violating community standards." Imagine?!)
Start with 9 minutes this week to reflect on the dignity of family life. Think about the home of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. What did it look like, smell like, feel like? What does God desire for your home and family? How can you invite the Holy Family into the day-to-day of your family life? How can you honor the dignity of your home by keeping God first?
