St Clement of Rome Catholic Church

Time is a very valuable gift given to us by the Lord. He is the owner of the vineyard where our “fig tree” is growing. It would be absurd to expect the fig tree to determine when its time is up. (Luke 13:1-9)

That right belongs to the owner of the vineyard. Similarly, we don’t decide when our time on earth is up. Regardless of our bearing good fruit or of our sterility; regardless of our preparedness, age, health condition, goodness or lack thereof, the Lord reserves the right to call us to himself whenever he sees fit. Besides old age, the end of our life on earth could also be the result of a “mean Pilate” who mingles our blood with the one of our sacrifices, or due to a “falling tower,” or simply a little bacterium or a mysterious virus.

Forty years ago a parish priest in Kansas, Father Stephen Scheier, was involved in a near-fatal car accident, and was rushed, unconscious, to a hospital for emergency treatment. Miraculously he survived, thanks in part to constant prayers from his parishioners and members of other local church congregations. After a long and painful recovery, he returned to his parish and resumed his duties. One day during Mass, after reading aloud this Gospel passage, he seemed to undergo a mystical experience, in which the printed letters of the Lectionary (the book of Scripture readings) seemed to enlarge and float off the page toward him. Following Mass, he suddenly remembered what had happened after his accident—a painful memory his mind had repressed.