Do you have Time?

Homily of Father Andrew Moreno - SJA Alumni 2012 Eucharistic Celebration

Perhaps some of you may have missed the SJA Alumni Mass celebrated by Fr. Andrew Moreno held last December 30, 2012 in our parish church.   He shared  a short touching story about the Father and Son.  A story that really attuned to the life of every alumni.  You may not notice that you somehow experienced the same story once in our day to day life.   You could be very busy working, meeting other people,  that you forgot what matters most.....which is the time for your family.  The short story is shown below:

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: 'Daddy, may I ask you a question?'

DAD: 'Yeah sure, what it is?' replied the man.

SON: 'Daddy, how much do you make a Day?'

DAD: 'That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?' the man said angrily.

SON: 'I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make a Day?'

DAD: 'If you must know, I make 300 pesos a Day.

SON: 'Oh,' the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: 'May I please borrow 50 pesos?'

The father was furious, 'If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don't work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.'

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down and started to think:

Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that 50 pesos and he really didn't ask for money very often The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

'Are you asleep, son?' He asked.

'No daddy, I'm awake,' replied the boy.

'I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier' said the man. 'It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the 50 pesos you asked for.'

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. 'Oh, thank you daddy!' he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up 100 peso bills.

The man saw that the boy already had money and started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

'Why do you want more money if you already have some?' the father grumbled.

'Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,' the little boy replied.

'Daddy, I have 300 pesos now. Can I buy a day of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to play games with you and to have lunch and dinner with you.'

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, tears flow in his eys, and he begged for his forgiveness.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that 300 pesos worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours... But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

Cheers!

SJA Class 1987