One Hour At A Time

There is an old circus story in which a lion-tamer finds himself face-to-face with one of his lions suddenly gone wild. “I’m going to have you for lunch,” the lion roars, “so you had better prepare for your death.” Whereupon, the lion-tamer immediately assumes the kneeling position, covers his eyes with his hands and begins to pray with great intensity. Hearing nothing further from the lion, however, he opens his eyes and takes a quick peep through his fingers. He is amazed to see that the lion also is kneeling, with his front paws over his eyes in an attitude of prayer. The lion-tamer breathes a deep sigh of relief, then raises his eyes to the heavens, saying, “Thank you, Lord, for letting my words of prayer melt this wild beast’s heart.” Hearing this, the lion drops his paws and says,” Quiet please! I’m saying ‘Grace’.”

In today’s Gospel Lesson, Jesus tells us, in parable form, that true wisdom consists in knowing how and when…