One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive his point home, he used a very ingenious illustration.

As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of them. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.

When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?” 

Everyone in the class said, “Yes.” 

He replied, “Really?” Reaching under the table, he pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.

He smiled and asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?” By this time the class was onto him.

“Probably not,” one of them answered. 

“Good!” he replied. He reached under the table again and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, “Is this jar full?”

“No!” the class exploded.

“Good,” he said. Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. He looked up at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?”

One eager business student raised his hand and said, “The point of the illustration is that, no matter how full your schedule is, if you really try hard, you can always fit more into it!”

“No,” the expert replied, “that’s not the point. The point of this illustration is that If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.”

What are the three most important things or big rocks in your life? Is it Faith in God’s rule and guidance? Is it Hope in God’s promises? Is it Love the way Christ showed you?

Remember if you don’t put these BIG ROCKS first into your life, you’ll never get them in at all.

—Provided by Fr. Hugh Duffy.