2 To: Timothy, my dear son:
Grace, mercy and shalom from God the Father and the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord.
3 I give thanks to God, whom, like my forbears, I worship with a clean conscience, as I regularly remember you in my prayers night and day. 4 I am reminded of your tears, and I long to see you, so that I might be filled with joy. 5 I recall your sincere trust, the same trust that your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice had first; and I am convinced that you too now have this trust.
6 For this reason, I am reminding you to fan the flame of God’s gift, which you received through s’mikhah from me. 7 For God gave us a Spirit who produces not timidity, but power, love and self-discipline. 8 So don’t be ashamed of bearing testimony to our Lord or to me, his prisoner. On the contrary, accept your share in suffering disgrace for the sake of the Good News. God will give you the strength for it,
Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops (Memorial)Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (2 Timothy 1:2)
Today we celebrate two of St. Paul’s best-known companions: Timothy and Titus. Both were young men when they began working with Paul, and both grew to become leaders of the Church in their own right. While we don’t know all that much about Titus, Scripture gives us a good portrait of Timothy. So let’s see what we can learn from this man’s life in the Lord.
A highly regarded member of the Christian community in Lystra, Timothy had a deep love for God (Acts 16:2). We first hear about him when Paul visits Lystra during his second missionary journey. Paul meets the young man and is so impressed with his faith that he invites Timothy along as a helper.
Two things that become evident in Paul’s letters to Timothy are the young leader’s lack of experience and his tendency to be timid in his leadership. Paul admonishes him to stand firm and not yield to erroneous teachings—essentially, to get some backbone and confront the issues threatening the faith of the Christian community at Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:18-20). On another occasion, Paul reminds him to be more assertive when addressing the community (2 Timothy 1:7) and reminds him how to conduct his personal life (1 Timothy 5:1-6).
Timothy doesn’t sound too good so far, does he? But the positive thing about him is his openness to Paul’s teaching and encouragement. As time goes by, Paul begins to have more confidence and trust in him and relies on him more fully (Philippians 2:19-23).
Timothy’s shortcomings teach us that God can write straight on crooked lines. He can work with imperfect people. Like him, we need to allow ourselves to be formed and transformed over time. As we do, we too will be able to work wonders for the gospel. If God could work in Timothy, he can work in all of us. So hand yourself over to the Lord, and let him turn you into his emissary!
“Thank you, Father, for Timothy’s example of faithful service. Send your Holy Spirit to raise up men and women like him who have a sincere love for you and who are willing to serve your Church at any cost.” Amen!
Psalm 96:1 Sing to Adonai a new song!
Sing to Adonai, all the earth!
2 Sing to Adonai, bless his name!
Proclaim his victory day after day!
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his wonders among all peoples!
7 Give Adonai his due, you families from the peoples;
give Adonai his due of glory and strength;
8 give Adonai the glory due to his name;
bring an offering, and enter his courtyards.
10 Say among the nations, “Adonai is king!”
The world is firmly established, immovable.
He will judge the peoples fairly.
Mark 3:31 Then his mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent a message asking for him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you.” 33 He replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 Looking at those seated in a circle around him, he said, “See! Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does what God wants is my brother, sister and mother!”---------------------
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