“Don’t wait for a more opportune moment, because you can’t be sure you’ll live to see it. Time slips away without us noticing. Therefore, the prudent do not waste time or squander the present moment, which belongs to them, in exchange for a moment that is not yet in their hands” (St. Catherine of Siena).
Today’s quote from St. Catherine of Siena aptly complements St. Paul’s exhortation: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16).
It is a call to Christian vigilance that preserves us from wasting time. In fact, if we put our faith into practice, it is clear that we must take advantage of the time of our earthly life to accumulate treasures in heaven (cf. Mt 6:19). Thus, every hour becomes a unique opportunity that will never be repeated in the same way.
Vigilance does not plunge us into fruitless tension; rather, it awakens us to living attentively in each moment granted to us, with our gaze fixed on the Lord and contemplating the precious hour in which we find ourselves from His perspective. This hour belongs to our Father! Just as God is always there for us, so too must we, guided by His Spirit, learn to always be there for Him.
How valuable time becomes—every day, every hour—when we ask the Lord, “What do you want from me at this moment?” It may be our daily tasks, nothing special. But they become special when we do them with our eyes fixed on the Lord, offering them to Him who granted us this day.
When we consider the Apostle’s exhortation to the Gentiles, we see that he links vigilance in how we use our time with the warning that “days are evil”. This certainly applies to the present time as well. Therefore, it is extremely necessary that we put Christian vigilance and prudence into practice to make the most of the time granted to us.