OUR LIFE IS NO MORE THAN A WATCH IN THE NIGHT


TUESDAY, NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP 

2 Pet 1:2-7; Ps 91:14-16; Mk 12:13-17

Our Life is no more than a watch in the Night

The Psalmist puts human life in perspective in today’s psalmody, from Psalm 90. If a thousand years are like yesterday come and gone to Yahweh’s eyes, and no more than a watch in the night, what can we say of seventy years that is our span of life or eighty years for the strong? The span of human life is less than a watch in the night. This expression aptly describes human lives. We can say that we live in the dark, watching for the dawn to come, because our senses are not equipped to perceive the constitution of reality. Hence, we see reality as if in the dark. Only the gift of faith helps us to perceive and distinguish what is real from shadows. Having received the gift of faith, St. Peter urges us to live in the light of faith and not to go back to the darkness of worldly life and outlook. We should understand the shortness of the time given to us to train ourselves in holiness. We must get accustomed to the light of faith and employ everything within our disposal to get the job done before our days are over. “You should be living holy and saintly lives while you wait and long for the Day of God to come, when the sky will dissolve in flames and the elements melt in the heat.”

As expressed in the Psalm, gaining the wisdom for life on earth is very essential for the success of our enterprise here on earth. There is no way to attain this wisdom less by coming to Jesus Christ, the Eternal Wisdom, and our Light. Faith in Jesus Christ gives us a new life which is not measured in time because it is spiritual and eternal. We experience it within us as through a dark mirror. We long for the full dawn of the eternal Day, as Peter expressed in the reading. What gives us a better guarantee of possessing the everlasting Day is righteous living in communion with the Holy Spirit. The role of the Holy Spirit is to guide us deeper into the mysteries of Jesus Christ. His presence is necessary because it is a narrow and difficult path that leads to the full knowledge of Christ the Lord. “You have been warned about this, my friends; be careful not to get carried away by the errors of unprincipled people, from the firm ground that you are standing on. Instead, go on growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.” As we commune daily with the Holy Spirit, we learn that every moment of our life’s journey is a teachable moment.

We must match the continuous teaching of the Lord with a continuous willingness to learn. Because our life span is short, no time is wasted on frivolities. Daily prayer and meditation on the word of God are necessary conditions for ensuring our continuous learning. God does not fail on his part to furnish the required purifications through which we come to a fuller knowledge and deeper communion with him. Every experience of our lives is valuable for Spirit-guided training. The Spirit helps us to sort the manifold of experiences, separate what is earthly from what is heavenly, and use them adequately to achieve the purpose of our training. The dishonest adversaries of our Lord admitted his honesty in teaching the way of God; his answer to their dubious question: “Is it permissible to pay taxes to Ceasar or not? Should we pay, yes or no?” is a key to our reflection. “Seeing through their hypocrisy he said to them, ‘Why do you set this trap for me? Hand me a denarius and let me see it.’ They handed him one and he said, ‘Whose head is this? Whose name?’ Caesar’s’ they told him. Jesus said to them, ‘Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar—and to God what belongs to God.’” While making our contributions for the good of worldly enterprises and carrying out the duties proper to our states and positions in life, we must never forget to give ourselves to God in search of true meaning and a life that lasts forever.

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, the grace to understand how precious the time you have given us here on earth and how short when compared to the eternity you have promised us in Jesus Christ, that we may use every second of it to know, to love, and to serve You, so that we may commune with you in eternity.

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