LIFE POURED IN LIBATION TO GOD

SATURDAY, NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME    

2 Tim 4:1-8; Ps 71:8-9,14-17; Mk 12:38-44

Putting in All We have Got

The Psalmist sings of God's justice. What is the nature of God’s justice? His justice is that of love or charity. The justice of God is the justice of divine love, for He gives all his creatures everything they need to realise his will according to his love for each. His divine will can only be understood in love, for God is love. God’s love and goodness are the basis of the outpouring of His goodness for the flourishing of his creatures. This self-outpouring of God attained its apex in the gift of His Only Begotten Son, who is the true nature of God and the total expression of God the Father. He came to us as the Son of Man to save us from our sins and evil that enslave us, and to invite us to the Trinitarian communion. Hence, there is no way we can tell properly of this justice with the Psalmist without giving ourselves in totality to Him. Only such a gift will make us fit enough to express his loving justice and proclaim his infinite goodness. Until we give our complete selves, everything we say, do, or sacrifice falls short of God’s gift to us, which would express injustice on our part, and not God’s justice. The adequacy of the Psalmist's expression of divine justice is found in the fact that he makes it his daily occupation. “My lips are filled with your praise, with your glory all the day long. Do not reject me now that I am old; when my strength fails, do not forsake me.” God cannot forsake us when we give our all.

We see the same note of adequacy in the gift of the poor widow in the Gospel, for which our Lord praised her before his disciples. “A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.” Our Lord set the poor widow up for his disciples to emulate because, although she lacked knowledge of God’s infinite generosity to us in the gift of His Only Begotten Son, she demonstrates a profound understanding of God’s greatness and holiness, recognizing that she owes everything she has and herself to God. Her gift or offering is given in justice corresponding to God’s. We who lack the twofold knowledge of God’s infinite greatness and His unrestricted charity fail in our profession of his justice. Only through faith, constant and consistent reading, meditation, and contemplation of God’s word are our minds and hearts opened to this divine justice that is evident everywhere. If our interests and focus remain on ourselves, we would remain blind to the justice of God and unable to sing of it in our lives, as the scribes who use the scriptures for their self-interests. “Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted obsequiously in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogues and the place of honour at banquets.”

Our sincere eating of the word of God, the bread from heaven, should open our eyes to the real presence of the Word in the Eucharistic species. We receive him from the scriptures and in the Sacraments, especially of the altar, and remain in his presence throughout the day, like the Psalmist, singing his praise and glorifying him all the day long. This should be our life occupation, like Saint Paul, who poured out his life in praise of God’s loving justice and goodness in the Gospel he preached to all peoples. “As for me, my life is already being poured away as a libation, and the time has come for me to be gone. I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith; all there  is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge will give to me on that Day; and not only to me but to all those who have longed for his Appearing.” Because we offer ourselves to God in trying to correspond to his loving justice in faith, we all live in deep longing for this Appearing of the Lord. Rightly does Paul qualify Him as the righteous judge, for He guides us in this sanctification process, urging us to give without reservation to God in faith. We become more and more children of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who gave herself without stint to God, as our offerings become purer each day, prompted, guided, and propped up by the Holy Spirit, the indwelling Sanctifier. He brings us to the Trinitarian communion, the everlasting home of love and justice.

Let us pray: O God, whose providence never fails in its design, keep from us, we humbly beseech you, all that might harm us and grant all that works for our good. Through our Lord Jesus, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.