January 26, 2019

Timothy and Titus

January 26, 2019:  SS. Timothy and Titus, Bishops

See over a dozen connections with today?
Legend below

Listen to Psalm 96 settings
Pope Francis at World Youth Day
Way of the Cross:  Each station includes a reflection on a theme real to young people:  the poor, vocations, ecumenism, indigenous peoples, ecology, refugees and migrants, hope, violence against women, human rights, corruption, motherhood, terrorism, abortion.
The way of Jesus leading to Calvary is a way of suffering and solitude that continues in our own time.  We too have given in to apathy and inaction.  How easy it is to fall into a culture of bullying, harassment, and intimidation.  Jesus’ suffering continues, and is reflected in, the suffering people in the world:  unborn babies, underprivileged children, mistreated women, unemployed youth, abandoned elderly, ignored indigenous peoples, all who are exploited, silenced, abused, rejected, discarded, trafficked, deprived of both future and present.  The way of the cross is prolonged in a society that's lost the ability to weep and be moved by suffering.
Look to Mary, woman of strength, to learn how to stand beneath the cross, with determination and courage.  In Mary we learn to say yes to those who have refused to remain silent in a culture of mistreatment and abuse, yes to being ready to start again when everything appears lost.  From Mary we learn to stand beneath the Cross with tender hearts that show mercy and treat others with respect.  Lord, teach us to stand at the foot of every cross.  Open our eyes and hearts, and rescue us from paralysis, uncertainty, fear, and desperation.  Full text
To Panama detainees:  The Pharisees disapproved of Jesus’ behavior and tried to discredit him, blocking change, conversion, and inclusion.  In contrast, Jesus approached, engaged, and gave people another chance.  Sometimes it’s easier to post signs and labels that divide.  People who tell you you can’t do it are like cloth-eating moths.  Tell them, and yourself, that you can!  God’s love has no time for complaining; it starts a process of integration, transformation, healing, and forgiveness.  By eating with sinners, Jesus shatters the mentality that excludes, isolates, and falsely separates 'good' and 'bad.'  Each of us is more than our labels.  A community that lives off complaining grows sick.  A society is fruitful when it generates processes of inclusion and integration, building a future through community, education, and employment.
Cathedral homily:  Many priests, consecrated people, and members of lay movements are weary, perhaps from long hours of work, relationships leading to exhaustion and disappointment, daily commitments, burdensome routines, predictable little problems, or stressful periods of pressure.  All these demand a well from which we can set out once more.
The "weariness of hope" questions the energy, resources, and viability of our mission; it paralyzes us.  It comes from seeing a Church wounded by sin.  This can open the door to the heresy of believing the Lord and our communities have nothing to say to the new world now being born.  Like Jesus at the well, we must have the courage to ask the Lord to quench our thirst, to recapture the most authentic part of our founding charisms, to see how they can find expression today, and to trust that God will do tomorrow what he did yesterday.  Full text
Read
    1st-century lamp
  • 2 Tm 1:1-8  Paul, Apostle of Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my dear child:  I worship God with a clear conscience and pray for you constantly, recalling your faith.  Stir into flame your gift from God.  God gave us a spirit of power, love, and self-control.  Don't be ashamed of your testimony or of me, but bear your hardships with God-given strength.
  • Ti 1:1-5  Paul, Apostle of Jesus Christ for the sake of faith, truth, and eternal life, to Titus, my child in faith:  grace and peace from God and Christ.  I left you so you might set things right and appoint presbyters...
  • Ps 96:1-3, 7-8a, 10  "Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations."  Sing to the Lord.  Tell the nations the Lord is king; me made the world and governs with equity.
  • Mk 3:20-21  As Jesus came with his disciples into the house, the crowd gathered.  His relatives tried to seize him:  "He's out of his mind."
Reflect

  • Creighton:  Jesus is our eternal intercessor, offering us salvation.  The world can make it harder for us to take time to pray and develop a relationship with him.  In today's gospel, Jesus tries to retreat from the crowds seeking him out and instructs those he healed not to tell others.  When we relax and reflect, God can speak with us more deeply.  When I just want to ask for favors, I need to remember Jesus is my intercessor and savior, not Santa Claus.  When we pray, may we keep the focus on salvation and hear his message....
  • One Bread, One Body: "Christian relationships":  Paul considered Timothy and Titus his spiritual children. Paul constantly prayed for them. When Paul and Timothy went their separate ways, Timothy broke into tears; Paul felt so close to Titus that his presence lifted Paul's spirits.  Both obeyed Paul, e.g. by staying on in Ephesus while he may have wanted to quit; Titus obeyed Paul by appointing presbyters in Crete.  Paul's relationships with Timothy and Titus are models of good Christian relationships:  Christ-centered, prayerful, submissive, deep, loving, pure, self-sacrificing.  If we die to ourselves and obey the Lord, Christ will give us relationships of love, commitment, and joy.  May he be Lord of all our relationships.
  • Passionist:  Now might be the time to shed light on our sin.  When we expose our fears, brokenness, hurts, and disappointments to the mercy and love of Christ, healing and reconciliation begin.  Seeing it and naming evil takes the devil's advantage away. God’s is inviting us to seek forgiveness and reconciliation, to become the people and community God created us to be.
  • DailyScripture.net:  "People were saying of Jesus, 'He's beside himself'":   His relatives were upset with him and came to seize him; they thought he'd gone mad or become a religious fanatic.  He'd thrown away the security of his trade and family and gone off to become a traveling preacher.  Jesus probably expected opposition from the religious authorities, but it must have been harder to get it from his own relatives. When we follow Jesus, we can expect opposition, even from those close to us....
  • Universalis:  Paul converted Timothy and Titus; they became his companions and helpers.  Paul entrusted the Ephesus Christians to Timothy and the Crete Christians to Titus.  His "pastoral epistles" have advice for Timothy, Titus, and us.
Dress legend

  • 'Peace sign' tie bar:  "Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus" (both 1st readings)
  • 'Love' suspenders:  God gave us a spirit of power, love, and self-control (1st reading)
  • 'Fire' pin:  Fan into flame the gift of God you have... (1st reading)
  • 'Hands' tie:  ...through imposition of hands (1st reading)
  • 'Bear' tie bar:  'Bear' your share of hardship for the gospel (1st reading)
  • 'Eyeball' tie pin:  "I yearn to see you again..." (1st reading)
  • 'Musical notes with "joy"' pin:  "...and be filled with joy" (1st reading); "sing to the Lord" (psalm)
  • 'Olympics' tie pin:  Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations (psalm)
  • 'Crown' tie bar:  Tell the nations the Lord is king (psalm)
  • '?' tie pin:  "He's out of his mind" (gospel)
  • White shirt:  Liturgical color of today's memorial
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