It has been said that to witness all of life, you need only stand at the arrival or departure gates of any airport in any city in the world.

There you see life in all its moments: nerves at impending adventures, excited anticipation of holidays, fear of the unknown, fear of flying, relief for safe arrivals, tears of separation, joy of reunion - every human emotion is on display in one place.

Time allows us to live each moment to the full, to our advantage or disadvantage as we decide.

Appreciation of the past is good, but some never allow themselves to enjoy the present moment because they live in the past.

Others cannot enjoy the present because they worry about the future and what it might bring.

When we enjoy the present moment it is a priceless gift.

We leave the failures of our past to the tender mercy and forgiveness of God.

The present tells us that the future is a gift that may not be offered to us.

Today well-lived allows us to explore and refine our relationships, to view life as a journey of self-improvement, developing our God-given gifts to love each day for the meaning and joy it brings to life.

To live, justly, to love tenderly, to walk humbly with each other and with God, means that we leave each day better than we found it, and that everyone we meet on our daily journey is better off for the time we give to each other.

Let us live each moment as golden to us, full of minutes that are precious gems, and hours that are diamonds.

These are God's moments, his joy and hope to us, moments that can never be stolen from us, but they all well-up to the promise of rejoicing and being glad with our God, for our reward for the good use of our time, will be great in heaven.

Fr Peter Hudson, Ss Michael and John Church, Horsham