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From: Titus 1:1-5

Greeting

[1] Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith of
God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness, [2] in
hope of eternal life which God, who never lies, promised ages ago [3] and at the
proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been
entrusted by command of God our Savior; [4] To Titus, my true child in a com-
mon faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

[5] This is why I left you in Crete, that you might amend what was defective, and
appoint elders in every town as I directed you,

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Commentary:

1-4. The heading is particularly long and formal. It contains, as usual (cf. Rom 1:
1-2; 1 Cor 1:13; etc.), the sender’s name—Paul; the addressee’s —Titus; and the
greeting—”Grace and peace”. In this case, however, Paul’s title (Apostle), and the
prerogatives of his authority and his God-given mandate to preach are given spe-
cial emphasis (v. 3). This has led some scholars to argue that the epistle was in
fact written by a disciple of St Paul—who would have put in all this about the Apos-
tle’s authority in order to give the letter more weight. However, it is more reason-
able to suppose that when St Paul was writing the letter he had Titus very much
in mind and also the community in Crete, whom false teachers were beginning
to unsettle; the solemn, official tone would be due to the serious nature of their
doctrinal aberrations and to the need to ensure that the church in Crete was pro-
perty organized.

These introductory verses provide a very succinct definition of the mission of an
Apostle: it derives from God himself, the Savior of all (vv. 1, 3); the Apostle has
a mandate from God, he is God’s representative (v. 3); the purpose of his mission
is to communicate the word of God, which is true, which “accord with godliness”
and leads to eternal life (v. 2). His letter is addressed to the believers, who had
been endowed with faith (v. 1) and whom he has to lead to heaven (v. 2).

1. “Servant of God”: in the language of the Bible, serving God means rendering
him the worship that is his due. While keeping this basic meaning, “servant of
God” means one who fulfills the task his Lord gives him. Like the Old Testament
prophets (who were conscious of having a sacred mission, which they could not
avoid: cf. Amos 3:7; Jer 7:25), St Paul knows that he has a God-given mission
which he has a duty to perform.

“To further the faith of God’s elect”: God sends his apostles to instruct people in
the faith so that they know the truth that saves and view their lives and the world
from a supernatural vantage-point. As the Church’s Magisterium has reminded
us, evangelization begins by teaching the essential revealed truths: “It is not su-
perfluous to recall the following points: to evangelize is first of all to bear witness,
in a simple and direct way, to God revealed by Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit; to
bear witness that in his Son God has loved the world — that in his Incarnate Word
he has given being to all things and has called men to eternal life” (Paul VI,
“Evangelii Nuntiandi”, 26).

“The truth that accords with godliness”: The virtue of godliness or “piety” includes,
particularly, openness to God, docility to his commandments and recognition of
his divinity—in a word, religion. Godliness and truth are very closely connected: to
acquire a solid, well-grounded piety one needs to have a good grasp of the truth.
St Teresa of Avila explains this in her inimitable way: “I should prefer spirituality
to be unaccompanied by prayer than not to be founded upon the truth. Learning
is a great thing, for it instructs those of us who have little knowledge, and enligh-
tens us, so that when we are faced with the truth of Holy Scripture, we act as
we should. From foolish devotions may God deliver us!” (”Life”, 13, 16).

2. In doing the work given him, the Apostle always keeps before his eyes the
“hope of eternal life”; this determines the content and purpose of his preaching
— eternal beatitude for himself and for all who accept the word of God, the at-
tainment of the indescribable joy which is God’s reward to those who love him:
“What words can describe what is to come — the pleasure, the good fortune,
the joy of being with Christ? It is impossible to explain the blessedness and
the advantage the soul has when it is returned to its noble self and can from
then on contemplate its Lord. And it is not only that he enjoys good things to
hand: his joy is permanent because these good things will never cease to be
his” (St John Chrysostom, “Ad Theod. Lapsum”, 1, 13).

“In hope of eternal life”: hope of eternal life should imbue our devout life, and it
should also inspire the truth we teach, the faith we profess and the apostolic
ministry itself.

Promised “ages ago”: this ambiguous Semitic expression (it can also be trans-
lated as “from all eternity”) refers to God’s promise of salvation made in ancient
times to the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament; but it refers mainly
to God’s eternal plan: from all eternity God decided to save men. This decision
of his is the basis of the theological virtue of hope; we place our hope in God
“who never lies”, who cannot deceive or be deceived.

3-4. “At the proper time”: salvation (God’s plan for all eternity, communicated in
a veiled way to the prophets) has been manifested in the fullness of time by the
advent of the Son of God (cf. Heb 1:1); preaching concerns itself exclusively with
this message of salvation. The Apostle preaches “by command of God our Sa-
vior”, not on his personal initiative. It is worth pointing out that this whole passage
is very dense and very typical of Paul’s style: lots of ideas are crammed into very
few words. The key factor is the divine plan of salvation; but the way that plan is
communicated is also important, as is the way it is carried out; the word of God,
in addition to making the plan of salvation known, is itself salvific, it is an effective
instrument of salvation. The Apostle is very conscious that his mission is divine,
for God keeps urging him on; he chose him for this very purpose and granted
him the title of “servant of God” (cf. v. 1).

On the meaning of the greeting “Grace and peace”, see the note on 1 Tim 1:2
and Rom 1:7.

5. St Paul seems to have given Titus two jobs to do. One, which is implied here,
was to complete the catechetical instruction of the young community in Crete;
there is a lot of emphasis throughout the letter on firmness in the truth, on coun-
teracting false teachers, and on the need for all believers, particularly pastors, to
have a well-grounded faith.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.