A.

MAN AND TIME

There is something very mysterious about time, On one hand, man is part of time: we experience our
going from life to death, our growing from young to old, we can and we adapt to various times and
circumstances - man is truly immersed in time; on the other hand, man experience also that he cannot
escape time: he can do so many things like making the earth subject to him and even conquering the
moon but he has no power over time; whether rich or poor, weather influential or not, we can not stop
the time nor escape it. No wonder then that many philosopher Heraclides in the fourth century B.C
observed that: "everything moves, everything flows" (panta rhei). After him many more offered insights
into the human being as bound and limited by the time St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Heidegger,
etc.

Also in all the religions the time dimension of man plays in important role: where does man come from?
Where does he go? What will happen to him after this time here on earth is over? Phese are questions
that arise and are answered on the background of the faith commitment. The great religions strongly
affirm that God alone is outside time and above time. In the Bible there are beautiful texts concerning
these reflections. One of them is found in Psalm 90: " Before the mountains were or the world brought
forth, you are God, without beginning or end... to your eyes a thousand years like yesterday, come and
gone, no more than a watch in the night... our life is over like a sigh. Our span is seventy years or eighty
for those who are strong. And most of these are emptiness and pain. They pass swiftly and we are gone."

Compelled by the experience of flecting time men created some fixed points to locate events which were
important for him. In the so-called "primitive cultures" these were often natural events like time of
sowing, time of harvest, time of hunting time of flood. In other cultures starts, sun and moon became a
great help in fixing certain feasts and rituals: at sunrise, and sunset, became a great help in fixing certain
feasts and rituals: at sunrise, at sunset, the day after full moon, the day of the new moon, etc. The
Greeks counted the time according to the Olympic games, the Romans from the foundation of the city of
Rome in the year 753 B,C., the Jews from creation of the world. And so each culture had its own way of
fixing, locating or remembering important events and to save them from being swallowed up by the
running time. In more recent times men invented artificial time meters in the from of all kinds of
watches. The sundial showed the time of the day by the shadow of a pointer on a plate, the hour glass
measured time by the running of sand or water from the upper compartment to the lower one, in more
modern times the hours and minutes are counted by mechanically rotating wheels which move the two
hands on the twelve hours indicator and in most recent times we have watches that indicate time in an
electric or electronic way.

Very early, days or months were dedicated to the divinity, especially to the astral gods. Such practices
manifest that time was considered to be something mysterious which is not in the power of man, and
because of this it is put into the hands of the gods and entrusted to them. Since the sense for the
sacredness of time and it's mysteriousness has vanished to a great extent, it is useful to present a brief
overall view of the most important names which we are still using today.
1. The days of the week:

Sun-day was dedicated to the Sun (dies Solis). And since the true and never setting sun for the Christian
was the Lord Jesus Christ this day received from the fourth century on the name "dies Dominica". The
day dedicated to the Risen Lord Jesus Christ. Today this still can be seen in the words: Domingo
(Spanish), Domenica (Italian), Dimanche (French).

Monday - Moonday was dedicated to the Moon (dies Lunae); this is still visible in Lunes (Spanish), Lunedi
(Italian), Lundi (French).

Tuesday (dies Martis) was dedicated to the divinity of the war, Mars. This is still visible in Martes
(Spanish), Martedi (Italian), Mardi (French). The Germanic tribes substituted Mars with their own divinity
of war Tiu, from which the English word Tuesday has its origin and also the German word Dienstag.

Wednesday (dies Marcurii) was dedicated to Mercury, the god of commerce, eloquence and travel who
also served as messenger to other gods. This is still seen in Miercoles (Spanish), Mercoledi (Italian) and
Mercredi (French). The Germanic tribes substituted for Mercury their own divinity of Wotan and because
of this it is English Wotans-day or Wednes-day. The German name "Mittwoch" (middle of the week)
became widespread only in the tenth century.

Thursday (dies lovis) was dedicated to Jupiter which is still seen in Jueves (Spanish), Giovedi (Italian) and
Jeudi (French). The Germanic tribes substituted for Jupiter their own divinity of Donar or Thor and thus
the English name Thursday and the German name Donnersta.

Friday was the dies Veneris, the day dedicated to Venus which is still manifest in the names Viernes
(Spanish), Venerdi (Italian) and Vendredi (French). The Germananic tribes substituted for Venus the
goddess of fertility. Freja or Frija, the wife of the god Wotan, and from this comes the English name
Friday and the German name Freitag.

Saturday was the dies Saturninus, the day dedicated to Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture and father
of Jupiter. This still visible in the English name Satur-day. Very early the Hebrew name Sabbath was also
used to designate this day and thus Sabado (Spanish), Sabato (Italian), Samedi (French).

Since the Christians did not believe in these divinities but recognized only the one God who manifested
himself in Jesus Christ, they did way with these pagan names and counted the days of the week in a
progressive way.

Sunday remained the day of the never setting sun Jesus Christ, or it was also called the Lord's day or the
first day of the week.

Monday was the feria secunda, the second day of the week,

Tuesday was the feria tertia, the third day of the week,

Wednesday was the feria quarta, the fourth day of the week,
Thursday was the feria quinta, the fifth day of the week,

Friday was the feria sexta, the sixth day of the week,

Saturday kept the latinized Hebrew name Sabbatum

In the official Latin Church documents this way of counting the days of the week is kept until now.

2. The months:

January, mensis Januarius, is dedicated to the Roman god Janus, the divinity of doors, gates and all
beginnings. He is represented with two opposite faces: one looking forward and the other looking
backward which is sometimes considered as a symbol for the New Year's day because on this occasion
we are looking back to the past year and we look forward to the year ahead of us.

February, mensis Februarius, received it's name from Februa (or February), the feast and sacrifice of
purification at the end of the year Since March was the beginning of the year in Roman antiquity, in
February sacrifices were offered to atone for the wrongs of the past year and to enter the new year with
a pure heart.

March, mensis Martius, was dedicated to the Roman god of war, Mars. The new moon of this month was
considered to be the beginning of the New Year in old Roman times (cf below the names of the months
September, October, November, December).

April, mensis Aprilis, has its name probably from the many flowers and blossoms which are
characteristics for this month (aperire = to open to blossom, to flourish).

May, mensis Majus, was the month dedicated to the god of fertility and growth Majus, In Greek
mythology it was Maia, the goddess of Spring and the mother of the messenger-god Hermes, Because of
this, the month of May became the month of Mary, the mother of our Messenger-God Jesus Christ

June, mensis Junius, was the month dedicated to Juno. She was the wife of Jupiter, the chief Roman god,
and because of this she was considered to be the queen of heaven and the goddess of light, birth,
women and marriage.

July was called originally mensis Quintilis, i.e. the fifth month after the beginning of the years in March.
Afterwards it received the name of "mensis Julius" in honor of Julius Cesar who was born on the twelfth
day of this month in the year 100 B.C.

A similar thing happened to the month of August which was origiy called mensis Sextilis, i.e. the sixth
month after the beginning of the year in March. Afterwards it was renamed "mensis Augusta" because
the emperor Gaius Octavianus Augusts, a relative of Julius. Cesar and adopted heir, died on the
nineteenth of this month in the year 14 A.D.
September, mensis Septembris (septem=seven), the seventh month after the beginning of the year in
March.

October, mensis Octobris (octo=eight), the eight month after the beginning of the year in March.

November, mensis Novembris, (novem=nine), the ninth month after the beginning of the year in March.

December, mensis Desebris, (decem=ten), the tenth month after the beginning of the year in March.

This brief and superficial over-all view show how much the human being of former centuries had awe
and sacred respect for time. He experienced himself as being a part of time, immersed in it and shaped
by it; but at the same time also subject to it. It was not in hands and in his power, and therefore he
dedicated days and months to the divinities to invoke their blessing and protection. No wonder that also
the first Christians who were part of such a culture followed in the footsteps of this tradition and
celebrate and created their own sacred year.
 B. CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING OF TIME

Depending on world view, ideology, faith or belief we can have various kinds of understanding of time. In
a simplistic way, three basic forms can be distinguished: a linear, a cyclic and spiritual understanding of
time.

1. The liner understanding

In such a model the character of time is well expressed; there is a dynamic movement in time, it is
fleeting, and the present moment will not return anymore. But this model does not express that there
are high points and determining events in this world which are outstanding and changing the course of
time and which are not acceptable because we do believe that the Christ even is not just a moment of
time like others but it is unique, outstanding or, as the letter to the Hebrews says, it has a once-for-all-
the times character (Heb. 7,27; 9,26,28; 10,10)

2. The cyclic understanding

Sometimes it is said that Buddhism follows this kind of understanding of time when it asserts that
everything has its origin, passes and return again. In this model it is well expressed that we all turns
around a central point: For us Christians this is the fact that everything returns again. We Christians
understand ourselves as a pilgrim church on the way to our eternal homeland and one day we will reach
out goal, and we will be with Christs forever.

3. The Spiral understanding

Such an understanding of time fits very well out Christians life and belief. The middle line is the Christ
event or its becoming present again in gatherings and the sacraments of the church. We believers are all
moving around and along this line and by doing so we move forward until we reach our final goal: to be
with the Lord forever. In such a model the certainly of the Christ event is properly emphasized and also
the dynamic of its sacramental and liturgical representation. In this way also the liturgical year will have
to be understood: in the course of one year (one turn of the spiral) we turn around the Christ events and
by doing this we move forward or upward and come closer to our final goal (SC 102).