“ONE HOUR”

By Mary Jeppson

    Several years ago I was visiting with a woman I had just met. During our conversation we discovered we were both Catholic. As we talked she made a comment which caught my interest. I heard her say “I give my one hour a week…I go to Mass on Sunday.”

    Her comment stayed with me and I found myself wondering when and how we came to believe one hour a week was enough to worship God. Was it because of the third commandment “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy” or have we gotten too busy in our lives to give God the time He deserves?

     I recently watched a DVD featuring Father Larry Richards with the Reason For Our Hope Foundation called The Truth. He asks us what is the meaning of life and why did God make us? Our catechism tells us the meaning of life is to know, love and serve God.

     We build relationships with others here on earth but have we built a relationship with Jesus? What we do in this little time on earth determines our eternity. The most important thing we can do is to know Jesus Christ. We should take an hour a day to get to know Jesus, because in the end, Jesus is all that matters.  We can do this through prayer by spending quiet time with God our Father and get to know Him as His son or daughter. Once we know Gods love we are able to love and serve others.

      Father Larry went on to say Jesus cannot be your Savior unless He is your Lord. Is God in charge of your time? Are you committed to daily prayer?   Can we prove how much we love God by how we use our time? Is God worth your time? Prove it!  We prove what we love by what we give our time too. With God we have everything. Without God we have nothing.

     Here at St. Therese we have many opportunities to learn about our faith and build a relationship with God. One of the greatest gifts of our parish is our Eucharistic Adoration Chapel. It gives us an opportunity to sit quietly and just “be” in the presence of God and to listen to what He wants to tell us.

     I never saw the woman again. However, I am grateful for our encounter. Her comment gave me an opportunity for self examination. How much time am I giving God? And, in my heart, I want to believe she gives more than an hour a week to God. Don’t you?