It’s 3 O’Clock Somewhere…

I was outside working on my vehicle, and it was an unusually sunny and warm day for mid-February.  The tall white pine tree I was working under provided some nice shade for me while I completed a headlight refinishing to get the cloudiness off the lenses.  Cleaning the cloudiness off the lenses allows the rays of light to shine better in the darkness at night, providing a better light in my path and for those around me.  This reminded me of the reflection people have made on the Vilnius Divine Mercy image, of how Jesus contrasts as the “only light” amidst the sea of darkness: As the breeze picked up a little – and my portable radio played some country music, a song came on which set off an interesting thought.

The song on the radio today was 5 O’clock Somewhere, a duet sung by Alan Jackson and the late Jimmy Buffet, and it’s about a man at the end of his rope with work duties. He’s had enough of the relentless workload, the nagging boss, the lack of gratitude from the company, etc. The man in the song is ready to leave the worksite and get a drink, to get his mind off the craziness of it all. Amidst the craziness of life, I sometimes pray the chaplet at the last minute of the 3 o’clock hour when I can, sometimes 3:55 pm, or even later; it’s impossible to squeeze a full chaplet of Divine Mercy in such a short window of time, and it causes me to rush, or forget it altogether.  As I finished my chaplet the Hour of Mercy ended.  Bummer.  It’s now 4 pm, and “all is lost.”  But wait! Just like it’s 5 o’clock somewhere, it’s also 3 o’clock somewhere and at this hour of Divine Mercy, Our Lord asks us to drink of the chalice of His Mercy.

This is the hour of great mercy. In this hour, I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion (Diary, 1320).

They shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure ( Psalm 36:8).

As often as you hear the clock strike the third hour, immerse yourself completely in My mercy (1572).

Since it’s always 3 o’clock somewhere, we can join in with others who are still immersed in His Hour of Mercy, wherever that may be.  We can join our “last” four or even five decades of a Divine Mercy chaplet to others, perhaps the state next door to us, or a country thousands of miles away!  Heck, pick one, anyone.  If you’re in New York, New Jersey or North Carolina, and the clock is about to strike 4 pm, put the car in reverse, so to speak, and “deliver” your chaplet into Illinois. If you’re in Tennessee, carry your stations of The Cross into El Paso, Texas.  If you’re in Quebec, join the Sorrowful mysteries of your Rosary to Saskatchewan. Whatever meditation you may be thinking about regarding either Our Lord’s passion or simply His mercy in general, move it on back. Who says you can’t live in the past?  “Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live” (Isiah 55:3).

Jesus asked St Faustina to “try your best to make the Stations of the Cross in this hour, provided that your duties permit it” (1572).  Even though that was for her, we could certainly take that “to heart” as well, why not?  Also, don’t you just love the prudence of Christ saying, “If your duties permit?”  Even Padre Pio said it perfectly, “duty first, even before holy things.”  Truly, Catholicism is based on faith and reason.

Obviously, praying outside the hour of mercy where we are is an exception to the norm.  When Jesus told Faustina to turn to His mercy and meditate on His passion he meant “here and now,” however, Our Lord is a God of reason and would be more than happy to see us do this. I suppose it is a “silver medal,” or sort of like a comparing Holy Communion to spiritual Communion, thinking of Jesse Romero’s insight I heard years back, where he compared Holy Communion (The Gold Medal) to Spiritual Communion (The Silver Medal).

By extension, we could also “advance” into another State. Let’s say you’re on lunch break in California, and it’s 12:30 pm… move it on over.  It would be 3:30 pm in Massachusetts, Maryland and Georgia.  You could technically start your chaplet in your car in the parking lot with the AC on, and use the “world clock” on your smartphone or internet to find out where it is 3 pm, right now.

Keep in mind, that some places have a “minus hour or hours,” even if that place is equatorially directly over another, ie Ireland, Galapagos Islands, etc.  That would mean that those would not be praying the chaplet in larger groups or at all at that time, as is the practice.  The best way to find out the exact time in a questioned area is to internet search it over the world clock.  If you use US states, you don’t have to do all the math.

As a sidelight, my personal favorite of Alan Jackson’s songs is Little Man. I suggest watching the video Little Man. It echoes Christ’s plight for the poor in Scripture; in fact, there is a scene where an oppressed working man has his arm resting on a statue of the Blessed Mother (cf 2 Samuel 12, 1-7, Mattathew 23:4, Luke 6:24).

Quotes from Divine Mercy in My Soul used with permission of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.