The Fellowship of St. Columbanus

II Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18 St. Matthew 16:13-19 "As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully. "As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but to all who have longed for his appearing." (II Tim. 4:5-8, NRSVae) Saint Paul thus looks forward to his death as a kind of sacrifice, a libation offering to God in the pouring out of his blood on the bloody streets of Rome. This is the culmination of his life, lived as he advises Timothy to live: sober, suffering, and doing the work of an evangelist. This life, even in being poured out, is poured out as an offering to God, and so receives the crown of righteousness. The martyrdom of Sts