A Journey Through Time

Life is a journey.  We are travelers through a land called time.  Because time is always moving, so are we.  We are always in motion.  We do not stop.  On this journey through time, we see beauty and horror.  We experience joy and sorrow.  We find peace and unrest.  Time’s terrain is rugged.  Its climate is unpredictable.  In one moment we find ourselves on top of the highest mountain and the next drowning in the cold, deep sea.  Just when we start to feel comfortable in the warm sun, storms arise.  Warm days give way to cold nights.  Time is a harsh land.  Those who journey here are shaped and molded.  Time leaves it mark and the travelers are forever changed.  But, what happens when we get to the end of time?  What lies beyond time?

This journey through time is our opportunity to get to know God.  We experience Him through His exquisite creation.  We see him in the faces of our fellow travelers.  We feel him in a child’s kiss or a mother’s touch.  God is present with us in time.  He is wooing us to His kingdom.  He is showing us glimpses of Himself in the hopes we will travel through time to where He is. 

For those of us who choose God on this journey, it does not guarantee the journey will be easy.  You see, we are not made for this world.  We are just traveling through it.  God allows time to shape us and mold us.  God uses time to grow us into the people He wills for us to be.  He prepares us for the wedding - the day when we will unite with Him in the kingdom at the end of our journey through time. 

Like any traveler, we need to be nourished.  We need to eat and drink and rest.  And God knows this.  Our physical world is a reflection of the spiritual world.  Just like we need water and food for our physical bodies, we need similar nourishment for our souls.  If we are to keep traveling to His kingdom, we need spiritual sustenance on this journey through time. 

“For just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth making it fertile and fruitful, Giving seed to him who sows and bread to him who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.”  (Isaiah 55: 10-11)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came to be through him and without him nothing came to be.  What came to be through him was life and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1: 1-5)

(Jesus said)”Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.  For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” (John 6:27)

“So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”  So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”  Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” (John 6:32-35)

“Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.  For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.  Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.” (John 6: 53-57)

So, what is the sustenance God provides for us as we travel through life?  His son present in the Eucharist.  At every Mass, we take a journey through time.  We arrive at the cross.  We witness His sacrifice.  We celebrate His resurrection.  Then we experience His life as we receive the Eucharist.  Christ gives us nourishment for the journey.  And He hopes we will stay on this ill-traveled road and make our way to His kingdom where He will make us an everlasting gift to the Father.