(Saturday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time)
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| Sts. Timothy and Titus, Artist and Date are UNKNOWN |
Commentary:
(Note: the Gospel for this Memorial is from the Proper of the day)
Reading 1: 2 Timothy 1:1-8
Commentary on 2 Tm 1:1-8
St. Paul writes to one of his key disciples, St. Timothy, from Rome where he is a prisoner. It is clear that the affection between the two of them is strong as Paul reminds him of his installation as Bishop ("…the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands”). Paul encourages Timothy to remain strong and faithful to the Gospel, even in the face of opposition.
CCC: 2 Tm 1:3 1794; 2 Tm 1:5 2220; 2 Tm 1:6 1577, 1590; 2 Tm 1:8 2471, 2506
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Or: Titus 1:1-5
Commentary on Ti 1:1-5
This selection is the introduction to St. Paul’s letter to Titus. "The heading is particularly long and formal. It contains, as usual (cf. Romans 1: 1-2; 1 Corinthians 1:13; etc.), the sender's name--Paul; the addressee's --Titus; and the greeting--"Grace and peace". In this case, however, Paul's title (Apostle), and the prerogatives of his authority and his God-given mandate to preach are given special emphasis (v. 3). This has led some scholars to argue that the epistle was in fact written by a disciple of St Paul--who would have put in all this about the Apostle's authority in order to give the letter more weight. However, it is more reasonable to suppose that when St Paul was writing the letter he had Titus very much in mind and also the community in Crete, whom false teachers were beginning to unsettle; the solemn, official tone would be due to the serious nature of their doctrinal aberrations and to the need to ensure that the church in Crete was property organized. [4]
In the second paragraph he lets us know what Titus’ mission is: to form the Church on Crete (which according to the best scholarship, Paul himself never visited).
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 7-8a, 10
R. (3) Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Commentary on Ps 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 7-8a, 10
“Announce his salvation, day after day.” This song of praise to the Lord invites all humanity to participate in God’s salvation. “This psalm has numerous verbal and thematic contacts with Isaiah Chapters 40-55, as does Psalm 98. Another version of the psalm is 1 Chronicles 16:23-33.” [5]
CCC: Ps 96:2 2143
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Gospel: Mark 3:20-21
Commentary on Mk 3:20-21
Jesus returns to his home and is greeted with disbelief by some his own relatives. They likely believe, because of his excessive focus on his mission and the claims made about his actions, that he has become delusional.
This short passage provides a sense of the challenges Jesus faces in his mission to proclaim the Kingdom of God. His fame had clearly spread as a consequence of his teaching, his natural charisma, and his miraculous healing power. The disbelief by even his relatives is a barrier to be overcome.
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Reflection:
The Gospel begs a question of us today. If we took the Gospel completely to heart and lived it so diligently that every suggestion Jesus made about how life was to be lived was followed completely, would our families think we had lost our minds? The answer that may have popped into our minds may have been “No, I try to do that now and no one thinks I am insane.”
On the Feast of Saints Timothy and Titus, two of St. Paul’s emissaries (also likely considered insane by others), we are invited to consider more closely the circumstances surrounding Jesus that would have caused that kind of reaction from those with whom he had grown up. We can only suppose that he had been apprenticed to his father (foster father) Joseph during his adolescent and early years before we encounter him at the Jordan
He was no doubt thought to be a bit strange by his peers – probably too good. The adults would have loved him because of his seeming maturity beyond his years. Perhaps suddenly or with little discussion with his mother (tradition tells us St. Joseph had passed away somewhat before this), he decides that he is called to begin something important and goes out to see John, baptizing at the Jordan River. Even if he had been accompanied by some of his relatives, what happened at the Jordan
Upon his return, the first person to recognize that event was St. John the Baptist who sees him and tells his disciples “Behold the Lamb of God” (John1:29). What a strange title to use. Yet some of John’s disciples follow him. This leads to the call of the first four and quickly that number grows to twelve (symbolic of the number of Tribes of Israel perhaps).
Some of these “disciples” were of questionable character and there would have been news of him having developed a power to heal. There would also be some rather disturbing news about confrontations with the religious leadership. His family (half-brothers, half-sisters and cousins) would have heard that he had been challenging the Pharisees and scribes – not a good thing and highly uncharacteristic of the good and gentle young man they had known growing up.
This would have been the prelude to Jesus coming home. His excessive preoccupation with the proclamation of the Kingdom of God
It’s fairly clear how these two short verses came about. Have we not seen similar situations in our own lives? Have we not known people who went off on a retreat or perhaps made a Cursio weekend and had come back changed, significantly changed, not the same person? Did we think of them as fanatics or religious zealots? We now come back to our original question. If we took the Gospel completely to heart and lived it so diligently that every suggestion the Jesus made about how life was to be lived was followed completely, would our families think we had lost our minds? The answer might be yes. And if we did, would that be such a bad thing? Should we not be fanatical about our faith?
Conversion comes in stages to most. It is a process rather than an event. What is clear is that even a gradual change will be met with resistance. The attitudes and values of Christ are not welcome in many parts of our society and attempts will be made to silence those who shout too loudly. The same was true in the time of Timothy and Titus. They were sent by St. Paul to proclaim the Good News to an unbelieving world.
Today our prayer is that we too might be thought of as being a bit mad, if it is Christ’s witness we proclaim.
Pax
[1] The Icon is of Sts. Timothy and Titus, Artist and Date are UNKNOWN
[2] S.S. Commemoratio # 520 /#316 (Gospel)
[4] The Navarre Bible: “Letters of St. Paul”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p. 611
[5] See NAB footnote on Psalm 96
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