Sts. Timothy and Titus

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

Timothy was born in Lystra in Asia Minor, of a Jewish mother and a Gentile father. During St. Paul’s first trip to that city, Timothy was converted to the faith. He was totally devoted to St. Paul. It seems that Timothy was quite young at the time, since St. Paul pleads with the believers in Corinth to treat the disciple with respect (1 Cor. 16:10-11). Timothy was also fairly young when he was appointed Bishop of Ephesus. Tradition tells us that he died a martyr’s death in that city.

Titus was one of St. Paul’s most valued disciples. He was the son of pagan parents, and it looks as though he was converted by St. Paul himself. Titus attended the Council of Jerusalem with St. Paul and St. Barnabas (Gal. 2:1). In the pastoral letters, St. Paul describes Titus as a strong defender of the truth against the false teachers and erroneous doctrines of the day (1 Tim. 1:3-7). Titus was nearly a centenarian when he died in the year 105.

Timothy and Titus were very close disciples of St. Paul. Timothy accompanied St. Paul on many of his missionary journeys “as a son with a father” (Phil. 2:22). St. Paul had great affection for him.

During St. Paul’s final trip through Asia Minor, he put Timothy in charge of the Church in Ephesus while he gave Titus responsibility for the Church in Crete. While under house arrest in Rome, St. Paul wrote letters to both of these bishops, in which he reminded them to protect the deposit of faith which they had received.

St. Paul urged his two followers to keep alive the piety of the faithful despite the fact of their pagan surroundings and the occasional appearance of false teachers. Their primary responsibility was to preserve intact the deposit of faith (1 Tim. 6:20).

Timothy and Titus were to be totally dedicated to the giving of good doctrine (1 Tim. 6:14). They were to share their unshakable conviction that the Church is the pillar and bulwark of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). It is for this reason that the bishops were expected to be so vigilant concerning bad doctrine (1 Tim. 1:13).

From her earliest days, the Church has taught the truths of the faith to her children in a clear and simple style so as to avoid any possible confusion. We see this practice at work in the words of St. Paul to Timothy.

He writes, “As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the divine training that is in faith” (1 Tim. 1:3-4).

John Paul II has commented, “Catechists for their part must have the wisdom to pick from the field of theological research those points that can provide light for their own reflection and their teaching, drawing, like the theologians, from the true sources, in the light of the Magisterium.

“They must refuse to trouble the minds of the children and young people, at this stage of their catechesis, with outlandish theories, useless questions, and unproductive discussions, things that St. Paul often condemned in his pastoral letters” (John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation, Catechesis tradendae, Point 61, October 16, 1979).

Teachers of the faith ought to teach the truths of the faith and not personal theories or doubts. It sometimes happens that people who seek to make the truths of the faith comprehensible to the modern world end up changing not only catechetical teaching methods but change the revealed truth itself.

In today’s world we find that a great many weeds have been sown among the good wheat. Radio, television, literature, intellectual discourse—all of these powerful means of communication can be used to spread truths or falsehoods.

Mixed in with good and laudable messages we can often find subtle and not so subtle attacks on Catholic doctrine regarding faith and morals. We Christians cannot consider ourselves immune from this widespread epidemic afflicting our society.

The teachers of error seem to have increased in number and cultural influence since the days of the Apostle, making St. Paul’s warning all the more timely.

St. Paul VI called this phenomenon “a brutal and universal earthquake” (cf. Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation, Petrum et Paulum, February 22, 1967): an “earthquake” because it has a subversive impact, “brutal” because it is aimed directly at fundamental truths; and “universal” because the phenomenon can be found throughout the world (cf. Pedro Rodriguez, Faith and Life of Faith).

We know in our hearts that the faith is a great treasure. We have to use the means necessary to conserve the faith in ourselves and in those around us. We need to be humble. We have to be on guard so that we do not catch the viruses. We have to be prudent with regard to what we read, what we watch, where we go. We should get guidance about films, television shows, books, magazines. The faith is worth more than anything else we can imagine.

In his Letter, St. Paul says, “Guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us” (2 Tim. 1:14). In the vocabulary of Roman law, the word depositum means those goods which are entrusted by one person to another with the understanding that they will be returned intact on request. St. Paul applied this legal term to the truths of the deposit of Revelation. This is how it entered into Catholic teaching.

The truths of the faith are entrusted by one generation to another. These truths are not the product of human reasoning. They proceed directly from God. Those people who are not faithful to these truths ought to contemplate the divinely inspired words of the prophet Jeremiah: “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jer. 2:13).

Whoever ignores the teachings of the Magisterium can only provide the teachings of men, teachings which can undermine the faith and put at risk one’s salvation.

St. Paul VI says, “The preacher of the Gospel will therefore be a person who, even at the price of personal renunciation and suffering, always seeks the truth that he must transmit to others. He never betrays or hides truth out of a desire to please men, in order to astonish or to shock, nor for the sake of originality or a desire to make an impression” (Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation,Evangelii nuntiandi, Point 78, December 8, 1975).

Through the course of centuries, the Church has carefully defined the dogmas of faith. In many cases these definitions came about due to major religious crises of doctrinal controversy and confusion.

Monsignor Ronald Knox likened these dogmas to buoys which one finds at the mouth of a river. The buoys mark out the limits of safe navigation. Beyond these limits one runs the risk of running aground. Insofar as a person keeps to the sure way in what refers to faith and morals, that person will advance without any problems. To neglect these guidelines would be to put one’s boat, one’s voyage, in danger.

So it should be clear that the issue is not about sacrificing one’s freedom. Quite the contrary, the question is about preserving everything that makes freedom worth having and sharing (cf. Ronald A. Knox, The Hidden Stream).

From her earliest days, the Church has produced short catechisms to provide a summary of the faith within the understanding of most people. Catechesis is one of the principal missions of the Church. In as much as possible, we should participate in this vital apostolate. That simple Catechism which was so helpful to us in our youth may still prove instructive to us in our maturity.

Yet we ought to do more than merely review the basic ideas of our faith. St. John Paul II reminded a group of pilgrims: “It is not enough to be Christians because of the Baptism received or because of the historico-social conditions in which you are born and live. As you grow in years and culture, new problems and new requirements of clarity and certainty come into consciousness.

“It is then necessary to set out in a responsible way in search of the motivations of your own Christian faith. If you do not become personally aware and do not have an adequate understanding of what must be believed and of the reasons for this faith, at a certain moment everything may inevitably collapse and be swept away, in spite of the good will of parents and educators” (John Paul II, Address, Point 1, March 24, 1979).

The better we know our faith, the better we will be able to know and love Our Lord.

St. Paul gives the following advice to Timothy: “Take heed to yourself and to your teaching: hold to that, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:16).

We should take advantage of all the means of formation which are at our disposal. This might include studying Sacred Theology, making good retreats, being attentive in our spiritual reading. All this comes down to acquiring a good doctrinal formation in accord with our personal circumstances.

We need to know God very well so that we can better make Him known to others. With this formation in hand, we will find ourselves well prepared to handle the contagion of false doctrine which is running rampant in the world.

Doctrine gives us light for our life. Our Christian life enables the human heart to know God. Our Lord asks us to respond to His call and to His Revelation with our full, informed consent. God wants us to know and love Haim on more than a theoretical plane.

We have to live according to our beliefs, confident in the fact that we are children of God, that we enjoy constant protection of our guardian angel, that we can rely on the supernatural support of our fellow Christians. With this kind of life of faith, we will introduce many people to Our Lord, almost without our realizing it.

There was a lady who brought her small little girl to a national park, and in the national park, the little girl saw an elephant, and she got the concept of elephant: big animal, big tusk, big trunk, small tail, big feet.

She went away and she became very interested in elephants. She wanted storybooks about elephants and drawing books about elephants. Through primary school and secondary school, she maintained her interest in elephants. She managed to get into university. She studied zoology. She specialized in elephants. She did her Masters. She did her Doctorate.

Eventually she was traveling the world lecturing about elephants. She became a world expert. But it was said that all her knowledge was built up on one simple concept of elephant that she learnt one day with her mother in the national park.

The moral of the story is that all our knowledge is built up on a few simple concepts. We don’t have to know many things, but we do have to know the few things that we know very clearly. Each extra bit of knowledge that we acquire is built up then on those solid foundations. We need to come back again and again to the basic foundations in order to build.

This is very relevant for our doctrinal formation. We come back to the basic truths and ideas.

In The Forge, St. Josemaría has said, “We are children of God, bearers of the only flame that can light up the paths of the earth for souls, of the only brightness which can never be darkened, dimmed, or overshadowed.

“The Lord uses us as torches, to make that light shine out. Much depends on us. If we respond, many people will remain in darkness no longer, but will walk instead along paths that lead to eternal life” (Josemaría Escrivá, The Forge, Point 1).

Albert Einstein once said, “Never regard [your] study as a duty, but as the enviable opportunity to learn to know the liberating influence of beauty in the realm of the spirit for your own personal joy and to the profit of the community to which your later work belongs” (Albert Einstein, The New York Times, December 16, 1933).

Every opportunity we have to grow in our formation is an enviable opportunity to learn more about beauty and truth and to spread that around a bit more.

Charles Dickens said, “It has often been said, very truly, that religion is the thing that makes the ordinary man feel extraordinary; it is an equally important truth that religion is the thing that makes the extraordinary man feel ordinary” (G.K. Chesterton, Charles Dickens: A Critical Study).

St. Josemaría said the children of God in Opus Dei have three ruling passions: to hand on the doctrine of the faith, to guide in one way or another the souls who draw close to the warmth of our apostolate, and to love the unity of the Work.

The work of Jesus as He walked the roads of Palestine was a constant work of formation. We’re told, “He went about teaching” (Matt. 4:23).

The life of Our Lord speaks to us about the power of ideas. Somebody said once, “There is nothing so strong in this world as an idea whose time has come” (cf. Victor Hugo, The Future of Man).

We can be very grateful to God for all the wonderful ideas that He’s given to us: that sin is the greatest evil, that man has an immortal soul, that if we die in the state of grace, eventually we’ll get to heaven.

We should try and put all our knowledge at the service of God in spreading good ideas. We can make sure that things we’re reading for information purposes or relaxation purposes have a certain apostolic potential. Am I growing in my faith by reading these things? If not, why am I reading these things? Maybe I should be reading something better.

St. Edith Stein said, “Before I was converted, to seek the truth was my only prayer.” We can be very grateful that we know an awful lot of truth. We could try to see what we can do to spread that truth around.

Christ left us a series of ideas with which to shape the world. We have to try and know those ideas a little bit better all the time: the dignity of the human person; the sacredness of human life; the truth, beauty, and meaning of conjugal love.

There’s a body of teaching called the social teaching of the Church which is an enormous truth with enormous potential. When Scott Hahn became a Catholic, he talked about the treasures that are hidden in the documents of the Church, of which very few Catholics are aware (cf. Scott Hahn, Discovering the Treasures of the Early Church Fathers).

We have to try and become more aware of the content of the spiritual treasures in those documents. The impact of seed ideas on people and nations can be enormous. We are called to light candles in order to dispel the darkness. Many candles dispel more darkness.

One idea can change an environment—an idea we mention at a parent-teachers’ meeting or a committee meeting in our organization.

We should also try to detect gaps in our formation. We all have gaps, things we missed, things we didn’t understand fully. But our formation is a work in progress. Hopefully over time we can come back and fill in those gaps and learn how to do more.

At a pro-life conference in Manila many years ago, I met a lady doctor from Liverpool. She was following the articles that came out in the medical journals about the side effects of the contraceptive pill.

Then she noticed that this information was not getting into the national media, so she began to write to the London Times and the Manchester Guardian about these things. The BBC noticed her and they invited her on to some talk shows. She became the national expert.

She had nothing to do with Opus Dei, but really she was living a point that St. Josemaría talked about: that if you identify certain little areas in your professional life and read everything that’s coming out about them, over the course of a few years, you become the national expert.

Then Human Life International got to know this lady and invited her to be on their panel of speakers at their worldwide conferences. As her practice wound down a little bit, she became very active in this type of speaking engagements and had an enormous influence at a global level.

It may be that God wants that from our continuing effort in areas of formation that affect our faith, we can have a greater influence with the passage of time.

In Faith and Reason, an encyclical of John Paul II, he says, “This is why, taking up what has been taught repeatedly by the Popes for several generations and reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council…, I wish to reaffirm strongly the conviction that the human being can come to a unified and organic vision of knowledge.

“This is one of the tasks which Christian thought will have to take up through the next millennium of the Christian era. The segmentation of knowledge, with its splintered approach to truth and consequent fragmentation of meaning, keeps people today from coming to an interior unity. …

“Such manipulation does not help the search for truth and does not train reason—whether theological or philosophical—to formulate arguments seriously and scientifically.

“The rigorous and far-reaching study of philosophical doctrines, their particular terminology and the context in which they arose, helps to overcome the dangers of eclecticism and makes it possible to integrate into theological discourse in a way appropriate to the task” (John Paul II, Encyclical, Fides et Ratio, Points 85, 86, September 14, 1998).

Reading comes to be very important. It’s equally important to get advice about our readings. We could spend time reading things that contain a lot of bad ideas. Once those ideas get inside our head, it can be difficult to get them out.

Chesterton said, “Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies just because they become fashionable” (G.K. Chesterton, Illustrated London News, April 19, 1930).

Newman said that bad practice is based on confused and false principles. It is often by a bitter experience that we finally see the truth” (cf. John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons).

We could ask Our Lord that we might take a lot of care of our doctrinal formation and see that this is something that is very powerful in the course of time.

“The truth is, of course,” said Chesterton, “that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion, but on the contrary, of its liberality and humanity. It is shorter to state things forbidden than things permitted: precisely because most things are permitted, and only a few things are forbidden” (G.K. Chesterton, Illustrated LondonNews, January 3, 1920).

Our work of formation is a work of love. It’s good to realize that we do little for the Church if we are not formed.

We need a serious preparation in order to make a serious contribution. We’re not fly-by-nights. Study of the Catechism is a very good thing. Come back to those seed ideas again and again.

We need to grow in our humility to understand the need for formation and docility. We need to have the humility to consult about the books that we read. If we find some book is not convenient, it can be good to write a little note about it so that that experience can be passed on to others.

If we find that there are TV or radio programs that are not promoting good values, it’s very good that we use our rights as citizens to bring that to the attention of the promoters of those programs.

God wants us to have an influence. We could think of all the young people and families who may be listening to this particular program. We need to be active in protecting the environment in that way.

John Paul II talked about “a moral ecology” (John Paul II, Message, January 1, 1990)—being aware of the moral atmosphere around us, making sure that the air people breathe is good air from a doctrinal point of view.

We can realize that everything we read can have an impact on our doctrinal formation. We may have little time to read, and therefore it’s good that we read useful things. Using our time well. That we promote good material to other people. We can thank Our Lord for all the doctrinal formation we’ve received in the course of our life.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says in the Prologue: “Through this call, resounding throughout the world, Christ sent forth the apostles he had chosen, commissioning them to proclaim the Gospel. … Strengthened by this mission, the apostles ‘went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it’” (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:20).

We can ask Our Lady that she might give us those deeper desires to grow in our formation and that we might take very good care of every effort to achieve that goal.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.