the opportune time
In ancient times sailors who have been at sea for months on end waited in anticipation for the time when the captain announces that the ship is now ob portu. Ob portu is a Latin phrase which means toward the harbor and it is used in a time when a wharf does not extend that far towards the sea to accommodate ships even during low tide as if have today. Ob Portu means the ship has almost reached the port and it is waiting for the right time, for the high tide to come so that the ship could dock in the harbor without fear of getting aground. A sailor is assigned as a lookout and when the high tide comes, he signals the crew and they immediately grab this instance to come nearer to port and dock. If they miss this suitable time, if they miss this right time, if they miss this appropriate time, they will have to wait for another day so that they could dock properly.
Ob portu is the Latin phrase from which the modern word opportunity comes. In the dictionary now opportunity means a favorable juncture of circumstances or a good chance for advancement or progress. In the christian life this favorable juncture, this good chance is not called opportunity, but rather the hour of grace probably to instill in us the fact that every favorable circumstance or juncture does not happen by chance but is a divine intervention, a divine grace given only at the moment. Ob portu – to be in the look out, to be on the watch. For what? For the hour of grace, for the grace of the moment, for divine intervention.
The Gospel and our first reading speak of this time. Everything has been given as Isaiah would say – a fertile hillside, properly cultivated, cleared of stones, planted with choicest vines, a wine press, a watchtower for lookout. The result: frustrating sour grapes.
In the gospel everything was provided for the tenants: a vineyard, properly fenced to keep out the wild animals, a winepress, a tower. The owner after giving and investing everything wanted to collect what is due to him – he sent his slaves to collect but they killed them. Never giving up he send them another batch – they killed them too. Giving them another opportunity he sent his son but they killed him too. Opportunity gone to waste. The hour of grace passed by. The grace of the moment went unnoticed. Divine intervention gone unrecognized.
Life is full of this time. Now that we are older just think of the things we wanted to do, things we could have done that we chose not to do and never did. Just get in touch of the thousands of regrets we harbor in our hearts and minds. The opportunities to study, the opportunity to work, to love, to advice, to listen, the opportunity to say thank you, I love you, and to show signs of affection, the opportunity to say something, to do something. The hour of grace, the grace of the moment is every now and then passing us by.
It may be as simple as a toggle on your clothes made by your little kid who wanted to ask you something, or a business opportunity that awaits your decision. It may be a simple word of advice you hear from a taxi driver, or a call from the pope himself. You may have read of it in a comic strip as you await an appointment, or in the bible during the prayer meeting. It may be a simple word of thanks you wanted to say to a yaya who has cared for you through all these years, or a slogan you could have shouted among hundreds in a rally. It may be as simple as just being there when your presence could have mean everything or as complex a task that demands your time and effort. It can be a meeting with the president or a date with you wife and kids. The grace of the moment.
To each is given his hour of grace and his possibility of choosing. The choice is ours and this opportunity to choose can only be given in a moment after which everything is gone forever.
There is a strange Greek statue which ahs disappeared completely. But it could be reconstructed today from a stone inscription which used to be the base on which the statue stood. The inscription is very unusual one: it makes the statue talk to you while you are reading the text. This is what is written in that text.
What is your name, O Statue?
I am called “Opportunity.”
Who made you?
Lysippus.
Why are you standing on your toes?
To show how quickly I pass by.
Why is you hair so long on you forehead?
So that people may hold onto me when they meet me.
Why then is your head so bald in the back?
To show that when I have once passed, I cannot be caught.”
And what is your name again?
“Opportunity.”
This Sunday we pray that we may always be conscious of the grace of the moment which God sends us everyday of our lives.
Ob portu is the Latin phrase from which the modern word opportunity comes. In the dictionary now opportunity means a favorable juncture of circumstances or a good chance for advancement or progress. In the christian life this favorable juncture, this good chance is not called opportunity, but rather the hour of grace probably to instill in us the fact that every favorable circumstance or juncture does not happen by chance but is a divine intervention, a divine grace given only at the moment. Ob portu – to be in the look out, to be on the watch. For what? For the hour of grace, for the grace of the moment, for divine intervention.
The Gospel and our first reading speak of this time. Everything has been given as Isaiah would say – a fertile hillside, properly cultivated, cleared of stones, planted with choicest vines, a wine press, a watchtower for lookout. The result: frustrating sour grapes.
In the gospel everything was provided for the tenants: a vineyard, properly fenced to keep out the wild animals, a winepress, a tower. The owner after giving and investing everything wanted to collect what is due to him – he sent his slaves to collect but they killed them. Never giving up he send them another batch – they killed them too. Giving them another opportunity he sent his son but they killed him too. Opportunity gone to waste. The hour of grace passed by. The grace of the moment went unnoticed. Divine intervention gone unrecognized.
Life is full of this time. Now that we are older just think of the things we wanted to do, things we could have done that we chose not to do and never did. Just get in touch of the thousands of regrets we harbor in our hearts and minds. The opportunities to study, the opportunity to work, to love, to advice, to listen, the opportunity to say thank you, I love you, and to show signs of affection, the opportunity to say something, to do something. The hour of grace, the grace of the moment is every now and then passing us by.
It may be as simple as a toggle on your clothes made by your little kid who wanted to ask you something, or a business opportunity that awaits your decision. It may be a simple word of advice you hear from a taxi driver, or a call from the pope himself. You may have read of it in a comic strip as you await an appointment, or in the bible during the prayer meeting. It may be a simple word of thanks you wanted to say to a yaya who has cared for you through all these years, or a slogan you could have shouted among hundreds in a rally. It may be as simple as just being there when your presence could have mean everything or as complex a task that demands your time and effort. It can be a meeting with the president or a date with you wife and kids. The grace of the moment.
To each is given his hour of grace and his possibility of choosing. The choice is ours and this opportunity to choose can only be given in a moment after which everything is gone forever.
There is a strange Greek statue which ahs disappeared completely. But it could be reconstructed today from a stone inscription which used to be the base on which the statue stood. The inscription is very unusual one: it makes the statue talk to you while you are reading the text. This is what is written in that text.
What is your name, O Statue?
I am called “Opportunity.”
Who made you?
Lysippus.
Why are you standing on your toes?
To show how quickly I pass by.
Why is you hair so long on you forehead?
So that people may hold onto me when they meet me.
Why then is your head so bald in the back?
To show that when I have once passed, I cannot be caught.”
And what is your name again?
“Opportunity.”
This Sunday we pray that we may always be conscious of the grace of the moment which God sends us everyday of our lives.
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