A TIME FOR TIMEOUT

READINGS: SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

The gospel of this 16th Sunday in ordinary times, year C (Luke 10:38-42) narrates the story of Mary and Martha, where Martha was so involved in trying to entertain Jesus that she had no time for Jesus, her guest. This story reminds me of a family I had in therapy, many years ago. The father worked 16 to 18 hours each day and was rarely at home. After some time, the children began to exhibit behavioral problems at school, and their grades were dropping drastically. His wife found emotional support outside of the home and solace in her three kids. In one of our therapy sessions, the father raved about how he was working so hard to put food on the table and to buy them the things they want and needed, and yet “Nobody seems to appreciate me around here”. To this comment, his little seven-year-old boy said, “Dad, one day, you will come back and there will be nobody to eat your food”. And so, it happened! It did not take long before his wife filed for divorce, moved out, and gained custody of the kids. A few years later, I ran into the guy and during our conversation, he said to me, “Father, you know, I have come to realize one thing! I tried to give them everything I thought they needed, but failed to give them what they needed most, my presence. It was like I didn’t exist as far as they were concerned.

My friends, it is very easy to get involved with things and in the process forget who we are and who we are doing it for; get involved in the pursuit of wealth that we forget or even lose the things money cannot buy; get so busy doing the work of God that we forget the God of the work; get so distracted with too many activities that we forget taking care of the one doing the work; focus so much on the social development of our children but pay little or no attention to their spiritual growth; have time for social activities but little or no time for praying or studying the word of God. Isn’t it amazing that many people are willing to go to social gatherings, take group trips to Atlantic City, and dine out frequently, but are afraid to come to Church because they are afraid to catch Covid? 

My friends, life is a balancing act. Time-outs are not just for sports and punishment. It is good for spiritual life. The gospels tell us that many times, Jesus withdrew with his disciples to be alone by themselves. Busy as we may be, it is important that we find it worthy to take a time-out; a timeout to sit at the foot of Jesus, a timeout to relax, to be with family/friends; a timeout to evaluate our parenting style and the business of being a couple; a timeout to be with our children and teach them life-values and spirituality; a timeout to evaluate where our life is in relation to God, to the self, and to the world; a timeout to evaluate who we are and where we are headed in life; a timeout to understand what our vacation in life is and how we are responding to it, etc. Scripture says, “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” May the good Lord grant us the grace of timeouts for the things that matter most in life!