Time after Time - 1/11/11

from catholicnewsagency.com by Bria Caulfield

If I believed in some sort of harmonic convergence in the universe, I would post this blog entry at 11:11 a.m. That would make the time stamp 11:11 on 1/11/11. I am sure bloggers all over the world are having fun with these numbers.

But I am not numerically inclined, and certainly not superstitious in this way. Still, I think even Catholics committed to Christ can find a lesson in the fact that the world is set up naturally to have these kind of diverting convergences of date and time. After all, God created the world and set in motion the sun, stars and planets, and mankind has discerned a pattern in these to organize his days.

We are not deists who think the great watchmaker has set the world in motion and gone away, leaving man to make the best of it all. We are Catholics who believe in the Incarnation, that God has come into his world as a man and staked his claim on this earth and in our lives. According to the Greek word used in John's Gospel, he has "set his tent" among us. A wonderful image for God dwelling with us.

So as we check our watches and cell phones today, waiting for 11:11 at morning and night, let's remember who put time in motion and brought us to this minute. Just as "every hair on our head" is counted, so God saw this time from all eternity, and he blesses us in it. How will we use this moment?