(Wednesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time)
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Sts. Timothy and Titus
artist and date are UNKNOWN |
Readings for the Memorial of Sts. Timothy and Titus [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary: [3]
(Note: The Gospel for this Memorial is from the Proper of the day.)
Reading 1: 2 Timothy 1:1-8
Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
for the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
to Timothy, my dear child:
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord.
I am grateful to God,
whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did,
as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day.
I yearn to see you again, recalling your tears,
so that I may be filled with joy,
as I recall your sincere faith
that first lived in your grandmother Lois
and in your mother Eunice
and that I am confident lives also in you.
For this reason, 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.
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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
Paul, a slave of God and Apostle of Jesus Christ
for the sake of the faith of God’s chosen ones
and the recognition of religious truth,
in the hope of eternal life
that God, who does not lie, promised before time began,
who indeed at the proper time revealed his word
in the proclamation with which I was entrusted
by the command of God our savior,
to Titus, my true child in our common faith:
grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior.
For this reason I left you in Crete
so that you might set right what remains to be done
and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you.
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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).
CCC: Ti 1:5-9 1577; Ti 1:5 1590
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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.
Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all you lands.
Sing to the Lord; bless his name.
R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Give to the Lord, you families of nations,
give to the Lord glory and praise;
give to the Lord the glory due his name!
R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Say among the nations: The Lord is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
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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 4:1-20
On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea.
A very large crowd gathered around him
so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down.
And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land.
And he taught them at length in parables,
and in the course of his instruction he said to them,
“Hear this! A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and the birds came and ate it up.
Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep.
And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it
and it produced no grain.
And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit.
It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”
And when he was alone,
those present along with the Twelve
questioned him about the parables.
He answered them,
“The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you.
But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that
they may look and see but not perceive,
and hear and listen but not understand,
in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.”
Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable?
Then how will you understand any of the parables?
The sower sows the word.
These are the ones on the path where the word is sown.
As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once
and takes away the word sown in them.
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who,
when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy.
But they have no roots; they last only for a time.
Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
they quickly fall away.
Those sown among thorns are another sort.
They are the people who hear the word,
but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches,
and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word,
and it bears no fruit.
But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it
and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
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Commentary on Mark 4:1-20
St. Mark’s Gospel begins a section of teachings on the Kingdom of God through parables. We note that Jesus is teaching from a boat, which would provide a natural amphitheater with the ground sloping to the shore. Here the Lord presents the parable of the Sower. As in St. Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 13:1-18) he follows the unvarnished parable with a deeper explanation to the disciples.
In the parable of the Sower from Mark’s Gospel, Jesus uses the rich analogy of the seed (of faith given in baptism) to show the various courses of faith in human endeavor. Because this selection gives not only the parable, but the Lord’s explanation of its meaning, the only historical note we will make is that, at that point in history in that region, when planting a field, the seed was sown first and then the field was plowed.
CCC: Mk 4:4-7 2707; Mk 4:11 546; Mk 4:15-19 2707
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Reflection:
“to those outside everything comes in parables”
When Jesus says these words to the disciples, he does so just before he has one of those wonderful teaching sessions with them. We envision them sitting around an open fire later that evening when the crowds have faded away and they finally have time to be alone. St. Mark’s portrait of the disciples makes them very human for us. They don’t instantly grasp everything the Lord tells them, and in this way we, who are also very human, get the benefit of the Lord’s more intimate contact with them.
What catches our eye today is the statement with which this reflection began: “to those outside everything comes in parables.” Who are those “outside” and what is meant by the statement “everything comes in parables?”
There is the quote in the Gospel immediately following this phrase that gives us an idea about whom the Lord is speaking when he says, “those outside:” “[T]hey may look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.” The Lord is quoting part of the Old Testament. Here are the words of Isaiah: “And he replied: Go and say to this people: Listen carefully, but you shall not understand! Look intently, but you shall know nothing!” (Isaiah 6:9ff) If we take the time to look at this particular passage we note that just before it is the verse remembered in song: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ ‘Here I am,’ I said; ‘send me!’"
We must gather from the context of what Jesus is saying that those on the “outside” are those who will not or cannot listen to the promise, to the offer of salvation. As difficult as it is for us to understand, there are those who cannot understand that God’s love is so intense that he gave us His Only Son so that we might be saved. Instead, as they look at the proofs of that very promise, all they see is the surface, as a person looking at a lake on a sunny day. They see only a reflection of the sky above and perhaps a piece of the shore with its trees and rocks. They cannot see into the depths and to the wonders of God’s creation that lie beneath the surface.
When we encounter people like these, on the “outside,” we frequently think of them as having heard and rejected the invitation. We generally think they do not want to embrace the Son of God because they would have to turn from the lives they lead and follow a more difficult and disciplined path. We must revise our thoughts, mustn’t we? They do not understand or cannot understand the meaning of what they see; “everything comes in parables.”
Today we thank God that he has provided us with a faith that allows us to see the promise and understand. Today we feel, as the disciples did, sitting by the fire with the Lord, that there is an immense job for us to do, reaching out to the world so that they might finally see, understand, and find salvation in Christ.
Pax
[1] The Icon is of Sts. Timothy and Titus, artist and date are UNKNOWN.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
# 520 /
#319 (Gospel)[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] The Navarre Bible: “Letters of St. Paul,” Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p. 611
[5] NAB footnote on Psalm 96.
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