PLANT THEIR SEEDS
Today we remember
Saints Timothy and Titus, Saint Paul's two closest colleagues, both of whom had
Paul as a mentor in the faith.
With him they participated in the
Council of Jerusalem, and from him, tradition says, they received the pastoral
epistles that bear their names. In the Second Letter addressed to Timothy, Paul
calls him "my child whom I love" (2 Tim 1:2), and in the letter to
Titus, one of Paul's Gentile converts, he addresses Titus as "my own true
child in our common faith" (Titus 1:4). Gifted with organizational skills,
Titus was sent by Paul on various missions to the early Christian communities.
Paul knew by helping them plant their seeds on good soil that good things would
happen. Both men were appointed bishops
and were charged by Paul to preach sound doctrine and to preserve the Faith.
They were empowered to organize and form Christian communities and to bear
witness to Jesus Christ at whatever cost to them.
When I look at my own life and the
ministry I am called to, I believe God has sent people to help mentor me in my
faith journey. These people help me to see what God wants me to do in a certain
situation or decision I need to make, especially when it involves helping
someone who is either in need or is looking to find Jesus. I have been blessed
by the people that I see every day: my family, the staff and retreatants of
this Retreat Center, my spiritual director and mentor. All of them have truly
helped me throughout my journey.
Each one of us, in our own faith journey
and in doing God's work, also needs someone in faith to mentor us, and to give
us spiritual direction that helps guide us so we can stay focused on Jesus and
on what He taught us. Today is a good day to think about those who have guided
us and continue to help us along the way!
We would do well to choose Paul, Timothy
and Titus as models in faith. We, like they, are on the threshold of something
new. We, like they, can choose to be supported by and to support other members
of the faith community. We, like they, encourage one another when we express
gratitude, forgive one another, and accept the challenges of living in this
world and loving each other.
In the beginning of the Second Letter of
St. Paul to Timothy we read these words: "For God did not give us a spirit
of cowardice but rather of power and self control" (2 Tim 1:7). With the
help of others, we too, are to go on our way just as we are, with no extras,
and proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations (Ps 96).
Let us remember what Jesus told us in
the Gospel of Luke: "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are
few" (Lk 10:2). Let us go on our way.