Time: The Price of Eternity
Time is precious, short and irreparable. I would like … to make as good use of it as would a dead person if he were to rise to a new life; I would like [to use my time] to remedy the past … [For it is] “the price of eternity.” (OOCC, X, pp. 553 - 554; STA, 143)
St. Vincent Pallotti acknowledges the importance of time in the life of the human person. Time is the gift of the eternal God to man. In creating the human person and placing him in the world to rule and guide his creation, God presents him with the gift of time. Though it is a God-given gift, it is the price with which the human person purchases his eternity. For his eternal life depends on the manner in which he utilizes this God-given gift of time. Time is precious because nothing happens without it, as every event in this world is temporal. Time is short because the time allotted for each is limited, and a person is not capable of adding a bit more time to his life than what is given to him. Time is irreplaceable because one can never get back the time he has lost. Only in relation to time can one remedy his past and make up for the failures of his past. In this way, time is a God-given opportunity to renew a person’s life, to rectify things that have gone wrong, and to give his life a fresh start. St. Vincent Pallotti speaks of the urgency to use the gift of time profitably. For him, a person must do whatever he is called to do, as if a dead person has come back to a new life.
Do I understand the importance of time in my life? Do I realize that it is precious, short and irreplaceable? Do I feel the urgency not to lose the opportunity that time gives to me? Would it not be good for me to capture the true spirit of St. Vincent Pallotti in this New Year?
"Lord, help me to realize how brief my time on earth will be! Help me to know that I am here for but a moment more. My life is no longer than my hand! My whole lifetime is but a moment to you." (Ps. 39: 4-6)