When they arrived at the famous temple of Delphi, which constituted the religious heart of the ancient world, dignitaries and commoners alike were met by the following inscription chiseled into the façade above their heads: “Nothing in excess.” Compare this to Abbot — later Cardinal — Basil Hume’s words addressed to his monks on Dec. 22, 1966, the day before their solemn profession: “Make your gift wholeheartedly. Make it recklessly. Love is reckless.”

In this Year of Consecrated Life, which began on the first Sunday of Advent and will conclude on Feb. 2, 2016, we are invited to consider the unique gift that God bestows on the Church by calling men and women to offer their lives entirely to Him. One of the contributions of consecrated persons is their visible witness to the recklessness of God’s love. The pagan prudence of “nothing in excess” contains some truth but not the whole truth, not the Christian truth of a God who loves His creatures so much that He not only creates for them all the wonders of this world, but ultimately, to save them from eternal separation from Him, becomes man and even dies the death of a criminal!



It is only as a response to this love that the life of love of the consecrated person makes any sense; it is only “for the sake of the Kingdom” (Matt 19:12) that people can give up the three greatest goods of life: material possessions, marriage and self-determination. Religious vow poverty, chastity and obedience in order that all people may come to know and to live themselves the lavishness of divine love.

Throughout His public ministry, Christ taught exactly this extravagance. What else do 150 gallons of fine wine at Cana mean? When He creates, He creates not just barely enough, not just the barely palatable, but overflowing delight. Later, sitting before the Temple with His disciples, he notes with tenderness the sacrifice of the “poor little widow” who drops into the treasury her entire earnings in a gesture of complete generosity; the deed touches Him particularly because He will re-enact it on Calvary, when He pours out the very last drop of His precious Blood, holding nothing back.

Often, it is that “little something extra” that gets to us in daily life; in precisely these moments, we are given the opportunity to love prodigally. Having decided to concoct a special dinner, you make an extra trip to the grocery store for the necessary ingredients; the excursion takes longer than you expect, because six people with crammed carts precede you at checkout. Managing to stay calm, you finally begin the walk home, when a neighbor appears out of nowhere with a lengthy tale of woe. Lord, can you really be asking me to give this, too?

“Give whatever He takes with a big smile,” Mother Teresa tells us. You will be filling up those water jars with the precious wine of charity, “reckless” of the cost, because you are in love with Love.

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Sr. Maria Veritas Marks is a member of the Ann Arbor-based Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist.