The Gift of Time

I love books. Growing up, you would find my nose in a book on many a family road trip or with a flashlight under my covers at night, long past my bedtime, caught up in the pages of a story. Since I had my son almost four years ago, much of my time to dive into a good book has been prioritized by living my vocation as a mother. However, I’ve been fortunate that he loves to “read” as much as I do, and my time to read has increased as he has grown. 

It was for this reason, several days before the order for the libraries to close, I was at our local library picking up new books for my son and seeing what I could find from my own list. I was pleasantly surprised to find a specific translation of St. Augustine’s Confessions that I had been eyeballing on Amazon for a few months (but hadn’t pulled the trigger on purchasing for one reason or another) and a biography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux on display that looked interesting. Not thinking anything of it more than I had found some good books, I checked them out and went home.

Not days later the libraries were ordered to close. 

Okay, God. I got the hint. I need to finally read that book. 

More often than not, we make excuses for why we don’t want to dive into studying the lives of the saints or reading a book that has to do with our Catholic faith. We have places to be, activities to attend, things to buy, or something more important to do. Maybe it’s that we feel we know our faith enough or that we get religion class in school or that we get enough teaching on Sundays. 

In Confessions, St. Augustine said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” During this current season of restlessness, I encourage you to take the opportunity to fill your time not only with the necessary things but to answer the desire Christ has put on our hearts to know Him. In a time where we cannot receive Our Lord physically in the Eucharist, let us study our Faith deeper, so that when we can come back together for the Mass we will not take the gifts we have been given for granted. There are lots of resources online to access digital books, including your local libraries, Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble, etc.

As frustrating and scary as it is during this time in history, let us take this gift of time at home to slow down and to learn more about our Faith. We can read about the Church and the Holy Women and Men of God who have come before us who have weathered their own trials and tribulations. Let us lean into the storm and take comfort in our Faith and a God who loves us. As for me, you’ll find me finally reading St. Augustine’s Confessions.