Reflections on Time - Fr. Gregory - September 1, 2024

On September 1, we celebrate the Church New Year. In his sermon, Fr. Gregory reflects on time and its significance in our faith and lives.First, he speaks on the Gospel reading from Luke, in which Christ reads from the prophecy of Isaiah and proclaims “Today, this reading has been fulfilled in your hearing.” In this, Christ brings together the past and future to the present. When Christ entered into human time, he sanctified it. In the church’s feasts and seasons, we seek to manifest Christ in and through time, often saying “today” to show that the feasts of the past are happening in the present as well.Next, Fr. Gregory discusses the difference between two Greek words for time — chronos and kairos. Chronos is the chronological movement of time from one point to the next, whereas kairos consists of interruptions in time. Kairos refers to God’s interventions in history, demonstrated by the dialogue at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy in which the clergy say “It is time (kairos) for the Lord to act.”Finally, Fr. Gregory discusses the relationship between depression and time, pointing out that depression arises from a broken relationship with time, a rejection of the present. He explains that reclaiming the present through prayer, gratitude, and patience is how we may redeem time and make the most of it.