Word to the Wise
Thursday, January 26, 2023 - Jan. 26 - Sts. Timothy and Titus, bishops
[2 Tim 1:1-8 or Titus 1:1-5 and Mark 4:21-25]I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for his sake; but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God. [Timothy]
THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2023 STS. TIMOTHY AND TITUS
[2 Timothy 1:1-6 or Titus 1:1-5 and Mark 4:21-25]
I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for his sake; but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God. [Timothy]
Saints Timothy and Titus were disciples and deputies of St. Paul and the three letters - two to Timothy and one to Titus - testify to their importance in the early missionary work of the church. These letters serve as encouragement to the two disciples to remain faithful to their mission of evangelization and establishment of Christian communities in Ephesus and Crete. The letters also can serve as encouragement to all of us today. Pope Francis, in his programmatic first document, THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL, has summoned all the baptized to be "missionary disciples." The instinctive response, "Who? Me?" is answered "Yes! YOU!"
I have in mind the ministry of some of our Catholic students here at Texas Tech who staff a table outside the university student center in an area called "the Free Speech Corridor." A banner in front of the table proclaims, "ASK A CATHOLIC!" They not only field all kinds of questions or challenges to Catholic faith and practice, but they must also listen to a particular "Christian" non-denominational preacher with a microphone/amplifier who relentlessly attacks the Catholic church and other religious traditions. They personify to me the words St. Paul wrote to St. Timothy in the quotation above. Their patient and steadfast presence every week when school is in session will bear fruit that they will never see. They are itinerant preachers insofar as their audience changes all the time without their having to go anywhere else! They are not "preaching to the choir" but to a university world of vast diversity of faith and non-faith.
The challenge to "stir into flame the gift of God" that we received in baptism is a daily one. It is more than going to church and sacraments. It is the effort to "put skin on" our faith in such a way that others will want to share it. The spirit of "power, love and self-control" is ours to share. AMEN