Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops
Today we celebrate the Memorial of Sts. Timothy and Titus, spiritual children of St. Paul whose letters to them were inspired by God and consigned to Sacred Scripture. For today’s feast I have freely adapted the antiphon from today’s responsorial psalm (Psalm 96:3) to fit the theme from today’s readings that I wish to highlight.
The theme I wish to highlight from today’s readings pertains to the handing on and living of the faith among family members. Two autobiographical details provide the context for why this theme struck me so much while I was reading through and praying over the readings for today. First, as a convert to Catholicism, I often hear how jealous “cradle-Catholics” are of the faith of converts. What they so often don’t understand is how jealous we converts often are of the faith lives of faithful “cradle-Catholics.” Second, as a father I’m still learning about how to raise children in the faith.
Today’s first optional reading from St. Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy highlights in passing the amazing affect the faith lived out in families can have on the world. Most of the early Christians were converts whose families were not Christian. Not so St. Timothy. St. Paul lets us know in passing that the Christian faith first lived in St. Timothy’s family, in his mother Eunice and in his grandmother Lois. The faith of his mother and grandmother helped shape Timothy in such a way that it not only prepared him to become a bishop—one of the earliest bishops in the Catholic Church, appointed by an actual apostle—but even more importantly, and more amazingly, it prepared him to become a canonized Saint. Parents can ask for no greater blessing than that their children would become Saints—perhaps not canonized Saints, but canonizeable Saints. The son of Eunice did, the grandson of Lois did. The faith St. Timothy saw lived out by his mother and by his grandmother could not but have had an affect on his growth in holiness. But how can we live out this faith in our own families, among our relatives—children, parents, siblings, cousins, grandchildren, grandparents, etc.—so that they can be inspired by our lives and learn by our words and deeds?
Jesus gives us the answer in today’s Gospel Reading from St. Mark’s Gospel: do “the will of God” (3:35). Confronted with Jesus’ mother and brethren Jesus highlights what makes His mother so special: She did the will of God, and she did so more perfectly than anyone else other than her Son. If we want to live lives of faith that can raise up new Timothy’s, we need to live more and more as Jesus’ brothers and sisters, as His mother shows us how to do: by following God. In doing this let us not neglect to tell of the wonderful deeds God has done for us. Let us speak about God and what He means to us, and what He has done for us, among our family relations. We need to let spouses, children, parents, and siblings, and everyone else that we care for, know how important our relationship with God is. And we must lead by love. In doing this, we will begin to walk in the path of Eunice and Lois, and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
- Jeff Morrow