Bishop Ricken's Message CHEYENNE – The opportunity of the holidays and being together with family and friends always beckons us back to the most important things in life: family faith and priorities. The Advent
Season is an historical remembrance of the coming of the
Christ Child at Christmas. It is as well a time to remember that
we are longing for the return of Christ at the end of time.
Therefore Advent is a time to recognize that we are to
long for, prepare for and in some little way hasten the return of Our Lord
Jesus Christ. In June of 1993, I remember attending my Dad at his deathbed as he was suffering from cancer and preparing himself for his final passage from this life to eternal life. He heard the television in the room next to his bedroom and voiced out loud the question ‘Why did I spend so much time watching T.V.?” My Dad never spent a lot of time watching T.V., but somehow the time he spent in front of the tube seemed disproportionate to him as he was now about to face eternity. He wished that he had invested his free time differently. During this year we are studying and praying as a Diocese about the call to be good stewards of the time, the talent and the treasure God has given us in the theme, “ Stewardship as a Way of Life.” Advent is a perfect time to consider the use of the time God gives us. If you want to know your priorities in life, look at where you spend your time, look at your calendar or your planner and many answers are there. If you want to know even more about the flow of your time, look at where your free time or discretionary time goes. How much is allotted for God? How much is allotted for ministry or service to others? Sunday is the first day of the week and belongs to God. That is why this is a sacred day. Mass attendance and prayer as an individual and as a family are the highest priority for each individual and for the family. Everything else in our weekend should be scheduled around that, giving God top priority. Ten percent of our day, which is considered the tithe of the gifts God has given us, is 2.4 hours of the 24 hours God has given us. Most of us will not be able to give that much to prayer and service, but we should be moving in the direction of giving God and our neighbor some of our time each day. We can start little and move in to giving more of our time in really worthwhile pursuits like prayer and service. Advent is the perfect time to plan for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to give more time to God by coming well prepared to Mass, having gone over the Sunday readings and prayed the rosary with the family or having studied the Sunday readings and discussed them. Every moment we live is a precious gift from God and we can at least give to God some of our undivided attention. Sharing family time together around a family meal each day are incredibly important for putting our values into action. If you are single or live alone, inviting someone to join you or reaching out to someone who needs a friendly telephone call or a reaching out to someone in need is incredibly important, especially this time of year. On behalf of all the priests, the religious and our Diocesan staff I want to wish each and every one of you a very blessed and timely Advent season and a blessed renewal in the true spirit of Christmas. Emmanuel, come O Christ the Lord. |