Caring timelessness

I do not ask you to forget the present and imagine that it is Holy Week.   Rather, I invite you to be open to the thought that you are now calling the present is Holy Week, for all time was there, is there, at the cross. - Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Death on a Friday Afternoon


Why do young people fall in love so easily?  Carefree timelessness! - Matthew Kelly, The Seven Levels of Intimacy

I've written about the timelessness of Christ before, numerous times, including (at least) here, here, here, here, and here.  (Note to self: create an Eternity label and add the appropriate posts to it!)  Now I find the concept near the very beginning of Fr. Neuhaus' book, where I must have read it before I started reflecting in detail on my initial reading, last year.  And I also find myself thinking of Matthew Kelly's insightful observations on the power of timelessness in relationships, and Fr. Satish's comments tonight about the central importance in prayer of focusing on God's love.

I don't believe any of us would ever characterize Jesus' Passion as "carefree."  Quite the opposite.  And yet no believer would deny that it was an incredible act of love, and that the least of Jesus' concerns was how long it was taking.  So there we see at least one aspect of timelessness that was at work on Good Friday.  Our approach to our deepest relationships is never focused on how long things are taking; we are rather so absorbed in whatever sharing of life is taking place that time often seems to stand still for us.  So, we're up with good friends all hours of the night (unless, of course, we're sick as a dog when we visit!), or we're reunited after years of separation and it's as if we haven't spent more than a day apart.

The culmination of all timelessness occurs in the eternal heavenly liturgical banquet.  The original and annual Hebrew Passover celebration finds its fulfillment there.  Every Eucharistic celebration, beginning from the first Holy Thursday - which was a Passover meal - is present for all eternity in this feast.  Every moment of time is simultaneously present and fulfilled; each pain is united with Jesus' pain, each joy united finds its place within that of the resurrection. So it is that each moment is also inextricably linked to the cross.  This is the ultimate in timelessness, and we participate in it at each Eucharist, and indeed, each time we enter into the Lord's presence.

Each of our relationships grows to the degree in which we allow this attitude of timelessness to have its sway.  It is "carefree" in the sense that we don't care about the time.  But I believe it's mostly a matter of caring more about the present than about the time.  It isn't that the passage of time isn't important; it's that we care more about the other person we're with, or who we're doing something for.  It is a "caring" timelessness.

Christ lived this way throughout his Incarnate life.  From his inception/Incarnation through his Passion and death, Jesus was more concerned with his relationship with his beloved (that would be each of us!) than with anything else, including time.  And this was never more true than in the fullness of time, when he completed his mission on earth.

And so it is that each moment is part of the eternal Holy Week.  We may as well immerse ourselves in it now, as it is our destiny forever!