I was relax sitting at the back of a car when I overheard the following exchanges: “ I got mine for ninety five thousand pesos. “ “ Really!” said the other. “ I got mine for only seventy five thousand pesos.” I got so curious with what they were talking about that I began to investigate what they were fussing about. It turned out that they were talking about their pricey signature and branded wristwatches. I realized, then and there, that time is really gold. It is really so precious. I never did imagine, in my lifetime, that there are these kinds of watches carrying those price ranges. Because, at that time, while I was comfortably sitting at the back seat, all I have is a hundred-peso worth of a digital watch.

        Time is eternal. It is so fluid. It just comes and goes crashing on to our lives. It just goes on and on. Nobody knows until when. Nobody can hold nor contain it except the one who made it. Up until now, it is still one of the greatest mysteries of our time. Your time, where have all they gone?

        But humans are a very enterprising lot. He turned it into a commodity. Per annum. Mid year. Quarterly. Per month. Per week. Per day. Per hour.... and down to each minutes and seconds. Everything counts and has a stipulated price and tariff. Commerce and trade became so dependent with time. For some, it is a twenty-four hour operation. Three shifts. Some even put a division with their International Date Line. For them, sleep and taking a break is out of the question. It is taboo. For the prices of goods might just abruptly change in a wink. And so, there is a need to buy or sell.

        Time, as a continuous stream spontaneously flowing by, somewhat enslaves us. We become so dependent on the clock. On its ring. On its bell sound. I remember that once, in the seminary, the bell is a very important object. Our lives revolves on it. It is rung all throughout the day for every community activities on our daily schedule. Be it for rise up, prayer or mass, meals, classes or study periods, cleaning, games, shower, breaks, music practices, meetings, home visits..... We become so dependent on it that one day our formators decided to put away with the bell. The meter rope to the bell was cut. We were taught to have our own sense of time. To know where to be and do at a certain period of the day. To be independent of our life from the bell.

        From that experience, I came to the realization that time, as a continuous stream spontaneously flowing by, can be punctuated. Can be stopped with our good deeds. When we do one good act we break into the steady flow of time. It becomes our own. We can get hold of it in our hands. Time , then , is individualize. Thats why, there are those people, and we are even encourage, to keep a daily diary or journals, notes to keep track of our time. MY TIME.

        When Jesus Christ, the second person in the Blessed Trinity, became a human person through the instrumentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, God himself crash through time. Through his incarnation, time was divinized. Time, is not only gold. But, it is holy. At this time of great greed, holiness can be possible in our lifetime. Holiness is manifested if a person has a time for anything and everything. A person is not so busy as not to have time to pray, to rest and recreate. We have seen it in the lives of our saints and martyrs.

        If we don’t use wisely of our time, it could certainly enslave us. It could dictate unto us. But, if we use it properly, we will surely be wise and holy. For a holy person, there is always a time to do good.