Daily reflection _ plant their seeds

PLANT THEIR SEEDS
We would do well to choose Paul, Timothy and Titus as models in faith.
Deacon John Ruscheinsky
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.