(Optional Memorial for Saint
Norbert, Bishop)
 |
| “St. Paul Imposes Hands Upon St. Timothy” Artist and Date UNKNOWN |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
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.
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.
He saved us and called us to a holy
life,
not according to our works
but according to his own design
and the grace bestowed on us in
Christ Jesus before time began,
but now made manifest
through the appearance of our
savior Christ Jesus,
who destroyed death and brought
life and immortality
to light through the Gospel,
for which I was appointed preacher
and Apostle and teacher.
On this account I am suffering
these things;
but I am not ashamed,
for I know him in whom I have
believed
and am confident that he is able to
guard
what has been entrusted to me until
that day.
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This selection contains the formal
beginning of the Second Letter of St. Paul to St. Timothy. Following the
formula address, the Apostle exhorts his former student and traveling companion
to be forthright, even outspoken in proclaiming the faith (“For God did not
give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control”).
There is a clear reference that St.
Timothy was ordained for this task by St. Paul as is shown by his statement: “…the
gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.” This passage
is also foundational to the understanding that there is an indelible change
imparted by the reception of Holy Orders. The Apostle concludes his
introduction, summarizing the call they have both received, and his faith in
salvation through Christ (important here because he (St. Paul) is in prison and
his physical well-being is in question).
CCC: 2 Tm 1:3 1794; 2 Tm 1:6 1577, 1590; 2 Tm 1:8 2471, 2506; 2 Tm 1:9-10 257, 1021; 2 Tm 1:12-14 84; 2 Tm 1:12 149
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R. (1b) To
you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.
To you I lift up my eyes
who are enthroned in heaven.
Behold, as the eyes of servants
are on the hands of their masters.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift up my
eyes.
As the eyes of a maid
are on the hands of her mistress,
So are our eyes on the Lord, our
God,
till he have pity on us.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift up my
eyes.
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Psalm 123 is an individual lament.
In these strophes we hear the prayer of the psalmist who expresses faith in
God’s love and compassion.
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Some Sadducees, who say there is no
resurrection,
came to Jesus and put this question
to him, saying,
“Teacher, Moses wrote for us,
If someone’s brother dies, leaving
a wife but no child,
his brother must take the wife
and raise up descendants for his
brother.
Now there were seven brothers.
The first married a woman and died,
leaving no descendants.
So the second brother married her
and died, leaving no descendants,
and the third likewise.
And the seven left no descendants.
Last of all the woman also died.
At the resurrection when they arise
whose wife will she be?
For all seven had been married to
her.”
Jesus said to them, “Are you not
misled
because you do not know the
Scriptures or the power of God?
When they rise from the dead,
they neither marry nor are given in
marriage,
but they are like the angels in
heaven.
As for the dead being raised,
have you not read in the Book of
Moses,
in the passage about the bush, how
God told him,
I am the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac,
and the God of Jacob?
He is not God of the dead but of
the living.
You are greatly misled.”
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The Sadducees are approaching
Jesus, in this passage, with a twofold attack against his teaching on the
resurrection (Sadducees, as a group, do not hold with the theology of
resurrection of the dead). First they ask Jesus to solve the puzzle of to whom
the widow of seven husbands would be married in heaven. (It is likely this
example was taken from Tobit 3:8.) Jesus
chides them for their lack of understanding, telling them that life in the
Kingdom of Heaven transcends life in the body. He then goes further, attacking
their disbelief in the resurrection by quoting Exodus 3; 6, telling
them the Father is the God of the living not the dead.
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Reflection:
St. Paul challenges us as he
addresses his second letter to St. Timothy. Notice, in the language employed,
he twice uses the word “ashamed.” The first time he tells St. Timothy directly:
“…do not be ashamed of your testimony to
our Lord,” and a second time, using himself as an example: “On this account I am suffering these things;
but I am not ashamed…” It is clear that he feels it is necessary to tell
his student and disciple that the proper social view of Timothy consorting with
one who is arrested and in jail (Paul) must not be a source of shame. He is to
remember that it is Christ they both serve, and it is his work they must
continue.
This message, although it should
not in any way be considered an analogy, could be addressed to the religious sisters
whose leaderships are members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). They have recently been under a cloud
because of the social positions adopted by this body which were opposed to the
Church’s teaching, and this has caused great scandal in the Church. The Church
had seen fit to apply new oversight to this group, and now the message of St.
Paul must shine on them. Their mission, like that of St. Timothy, is to throw
off shame and proclaim Christ in the world.
This example was used intentionally
to surface thoughts by some that might be uncharitable. Some might believe that
what was done in Christ’s name by a small group should have evoked more drastic
action. It is the same with how the world generally sees the actions of Church
leaders who have exercised poor judgment in the handling of sexual abuse
issues, also causing great scandal and even more pain. Whether for good or ill,
Christ’s message of forgiveness tempers all decisions made by his servants who
tend to err on the side of love, rather than on the side of mistrust and
hatred.
For us too, the shame of these
scandals can cause us to pull back from proclaiming our identities in the
world. Have these very public secular events caused us to shrink from a public
witness to our faith? Have we said to ourselves: “Perhaps it will be better if
I just withdraw from the public spotlight for a while until these issues are forgotten
by the public at large?” Now is the time, as the Apostle says, to “stir into flame the gift of God.” Let
the call of the pious and unchurched for justice be met with our assent, and
our call for forgiveness as well. Christ is our banner and we must not forget.
Our friend, St. Paul, has good
words of encouragement for us today. It is a difficult world we face, and we
pray for the strength to carry the word to it through our voices and our
actions. We need all the prayers of the saints today as we take the call of
Christ forward.
Pax
[1]
The picture is “St. Paul Imposes Hands Upon St. Timothy” Artist and Date
UNKNOWN
[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 re-publication is
not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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