Nov302024
Read the Homily

Why We Love Deadlines

Deadlines and due dates: we love them. They motivate us to get things done. Christmas has a date. Otherwise, we would be sending out Christmas cards on New Year’s Day. I teach, and I have a due date for their papers. One student passed his paper three weeks after it was due. It was the perfect paper. It had everything that I love. There was an engaging introduction, a clear and easy-to-follow argument, and a great conclusion. It was the perfect paper. But let me assure you, he did not get the perfect grade. I commented on the paper: “What are you going to do? Give your Good Friday homily on Easter Sunday because you are running a little behind?”

Jesus tells us about a coming storm. We can handle storms if we prepare for them. The problem is that Jesus does not give us a date for this storm. So how are we supposed to prepare if we do not know when the storm will strike? Answer: we prepare now.

One day, I walked into the office; Carol, our office manager, was busy at work. I sat down and told her, “Today is my mother’s birthday, she would have been seventy-one.” Carol, who had lost her mother a few years before, stopped what she was doing and swiveled the chair around to face me. She replied, “You know what the hardest part is? You are in the store, and you pass by a row of Mother’s Day cards and you know that you can never give her another card.”

The greatest moment in our lives is not in the future or the past. It is now. Since I have been a priest, it has been my personal mission to tell people to love now, be kind now, and be generous now. If you are angry with someone, reconcile now because you will never have this moment again. 

Back to All Homilies