Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, bishops
“...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.” I love this phrase from Paul’s second letter to Timothy that we are given in today’s First Reading (1:1-8). What do I love about it? I love that it’s very personal – it seems Paul knows Timothy well enough that he knows his mother’s and grandmother’s faith. I also love that he mentions them by name – Lois and Eunice – maybe he even knew them personally. The names of women appear much less frequently overall in the bible, so it seems extra special to me and, again, very personal. I also love how it is implied that their faith was passed on, “your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother…and in your mother…and that I am confident lives also in you.”
Another interesting (and related) phrase in this part of Paul’s letter is in the preceding verse, “I am grateful to God, whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did….” (the italics are mine) Paul is referencing a faith passed on in his own family as well. However, we know Paul’s dramatic conversion story (on the road to Damascus), so this faith is referring to his ancestry of Judaism, not Christianity, which was still very young at the time (not even yet called Christianity). This reference in Paul’s letter, Scripture scholars tell us, emphasizes the continuity of Judaism and Christianity.
Whether or not our own faith was passed on from our ancestors, and whether or not we have children of our own to pass the faith on to, we can support, encourage, even mentor others in their faith as did Paul for Timothy (and Titus, whose memorial the Church also celebrates today). As the letter to Timothy continues in today’s reading, we hear Paul reminding Timothy 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…bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God.”
Believed to have been written by Paul from prison, he knows about bearing his “share of hardship” and is encouraging, as well as praying for (“night and day”) Timothy, and Titus, both of whom he refers to as “my child.” (see alternate reading, Titus 1:1-5) Who might we be called to help “stir into flame the gift of God” this week, this month, this new year?
In gratitude for Lois and Eunice, as well as my own grandmothers, Helen and Lillian, and mother, Elizabeth (just to name the women), who my faith first “lived in,” along with all the other ancestors of our faith, including Saints Paul, Timothy and Titus. May God be praised.
~ Eileen Miller