Ordinary Men, Extraordinary Faith

Homily for the Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus

Following fast on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul is the memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus. These two disciples of St. Paul were both converted to Christianity through the preaching of St. Paul. Titus was a Greek and is mentioned as the servant of Paul who is sent to deliver letters for him, to ask for alms and various other tasks. Tradition tells us that after Paul was released from prison in Rome, he briefly visited Crete, where he had sent Titus, and ordained him as the first bishop of Crete.

Timothy was born of a Greek father and Jewish mother. When Paul and Barnabas passed through Lystra, he healed a person crippled from birth, leading many of the inhabitants to accept his teaching. Timothy seems to have been among them. When Paul returns to Lystra sometime later, Timothy has become an important and influential member of the community. Paul takes Timothy with him and eventually sends him to Ephesus as the first bishop of that community.

The so-called Pastoral Letters of St. Paul are addressed to these two Christian leaders.

Once again we are confronted with the mystery that is God’s way of working in our human situation. Why did Jesus choose these two men to be leaders? As we read in the letters that St. Paul wrote to them, though they burned bright at the beginning of their ministry, like ordinary human beings, they flagged in their enthusiasm and needed to be bolstered by Paul’s letters and reminders of the task with which they had been entrusted. It is this fact, their ordinariness, that we recall and at which we stand in awe. For these men are examples to all of us of bearing the fruit of the Gospel, of providing the kind of soil in which the Word of God can thrive and grow.

As we approach the Eucharistic table, we know that no words or answers can fully explain the gift of God’s love. We stand content to reside in the mystery of the kingdom of God in which we have grown and thrived.