Commentary on the Gospel of

George Butterfield

Today we celebrate the Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, bishops in the early Church. Both of them were travelling companions of the Apostle Paul. He was their spiritual father, referring to Timothy as “my dear child” and Titus as “my true child in our common faith.” Timothy served the Church in Ephesus and Titus on the island of Crete. In the two optional first readings, Paul gives them instructions about how to live their faith.

 

Timothy appears to have been quite a tender soul. Paul recalls Timothy’s tears upon learning that he would be separated from his father in the faith. Timothy would stay in Ephesus and Paul, the missionary, had to move on. Yet, he knew that Timothy was strong because his faith had taken root in him, even as it had in his grandmother, Lois and his mother, Eunice. Do grandparents today realize the spiritual impact they have on their grandchildren? Lois apparently did. Paul says that sincere faith “lived” in her. Her faith was alive. Timothy saw this. He also saw it in his mother, Eunice. Paul had laid his hands on Timothy and given him the gifts he needed to perform his ministry but would Paul have ever even known who Timothy was if it were not for those two godly women? Would we be celebrating a Memorial to Saint Timothy if there had never been a Lois and a Eunice who were alive with faith? How many potential saints are there in our world today that will never be set on fire by the Holy Spirit because their grandparents, godparents, and parents are 

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