Tuesday of
the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time – Special Readings
Memorial
of Sts. Timothy and Titus
January 26, 2016 8:30am
Since today is the celebration of
Saints Timothy and Titus, our first reading is from Saint Paul’s Second Letter
to Timothy.
I am selecting just one point, in
fact one word in this passage for our reflection this morning.
Paul identifies himself as an
apostle, writing “to Timothy, my dear
child.”
At the beginning of his letter to
Titus, Paul also refers to Titus as “my
true child in our common faith.”
Paul sees Timothy and Titus as
his spiritual children.
He has shared his faith with them.
In turn, they have come to
believe in Jesus and have even become disciples not just of Paul, but of Jesus.
I am sure that most parents want
to look upon their sons and daughters as spiritual children.
They want to share their faith
with their children and they want their children to embrace it and live it.
I hope I also am a spiritual
father to others.
That is what lies behind the
title “Father” for priests in our Church.
I feel sure that our religion
teachers or catechists or RCIA catechists want to be spiritual parents.
So, many of us, in many roles
want a spiritual parenthood with others as Paul has with Timothy and Titus.
For this, we need to share our
faith by word and even more importantly, by example.
And then we need to respect the
freedom and growth of the other person.
We need patience to allow the
seed we have planted to grow – maybe to grow in God’s time.
Sometimes this is not easy and we
are tempted to become impatient and frustrated.
But, personal example, respect,
and patience – these traits are ultimately the ones that will work.
They are important in our being spiritual
parents and in looking upon another as our spiritual child.
