Reading 1 2 Tm 1:1-8

Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
for the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
to Timothy, my dear child:
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am grateful to God,
whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did,
as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day.
I yearn to see you again, recalling your tears,
so that I may be filled with joy,
as I recall your sincere faith
that first lived in your grandmother Lois
and in your mother Eunice
and that I am confident lives also in you.

For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel
with the strength that comes from God.

Or Ti 1:1-5

Paul, a slave of God and Apostle of Jesus Christ
for the sake of the faith of God's chosen ones
and the recognition of religious truth,
in the hope of eternal life
that God, who does not lie, promised before time began,
who indeed at the proper time revealed his word
in the proclamation with which I was entrusted
by the command of God our savior,
to Titus, my true child in our common faith:
grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior.

For this reason I left you in Crete
so that you might set right what remains to be done
and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you.

Responsorial Psalm PS 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 7-8a, 10

R. (3) Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name.
R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and praise;
give to the LORD the glory due his name!
R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.

Alleluia See Mt 11:25

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mk 3:31-35

The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him told him,
"Your mother and your brothers and your sisters
are outside asking for you."
But he said to them in reply,
"Who are my mother and my brothers?"
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
"Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother."

From: 2 Timothy 1:1-8

Greeting

[1] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise
of the life which is in Christ Jesus, [2] To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mer-
cy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. [3] I thank God
whom I serve with a clear conscience, as did my fathers, when I remember you
constantly in my prayers. [4] As I remember your tears, I long night and day to
see you, that I may be filled with joy. [5] I am reminded of your sincere faith, a
faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now,
I am sure, dwells in you.

Response to Grace

[6] Hence I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the
laying on of my hands; [7] God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of
power and love and self-control.

St Paul, Herald of the Gospel

[8] Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but
take your share of suffering for the gospel in the power of God.

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Commentary:

1-2. The greeting is like that of 1 Timothy, although now St Paul adds a specific
reference to the purpose of his God-given call to the apostolate—”according to the
promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus”. Christ fulfills all the promises of hap-
piness given to Abraham and the other Old Testament patriarchs. The purpose
of the Gospel message is to let men know that they have been called to enjoy a
new life in Christ, that is, the divine life whose germ we receive at Baptism. That
sacrament initiates the life of grace in the soul, and ultimately that life will blos-
som into eternal life (cf. 1 Tim 1:16; 6:12; Ti 1:2; 3:9).

On the exact meaning of the expression “in Christ Jesus”, see the note on 1
Tim 1:14.

3. “I thank God”: this is not a spontaneous expression of gratitude but rather a
permanent disposition of Paul’s soul.

St Paul makes the point that his attitude of service and worship is the same as
that of his ancestors, the righteous of the Old Testament, for although the Gos-
pel is something new it does not involve a break with the earlier revelation; rather
it brings that revelation to fulfillment. The Apostle pays tribute to the chosen peo-
ple, not hiding his satisfaction at being a Jew himself (cf. Rom 9:3; 11:1; Gal 2:
15). “The Church of Christ acknowledges”, Vatican II states, “that in God’s plan
of salvation the beginning of her faith and election is to be found in the patriarchs,
Moses and the prophets [...]. The Church cannot forget that she received the re-
velation of the Old Testament by way of that people with whom God in his inex-
pressible mercy established the ancient covenant [...]. She is mindful, moreover,
that the Apostles, the pillars on which the Church stands, were of Jewish de-
scent, as were many of those early disciples who proclaimed the Gospel of
Christ to the world” (”Nostra Aetate”, 4).

6. “The gift of God” is the priestly character which Timothy received on the day
of his ordination. St Paul is using very graphic and precise language: by the sa-
crament of Order a divine gift is conferred on the priest; it is like an ember which
needs to be revived from time to time in order to make it glow and give forth the
warmth it contains. St Thomas Aquinas comments that “the grace of God is
like a fire, which does not flow when it is covered by ashes; the same thing hap-
pens when grace is covered over in a person by sluggishness or natural fear”
(”Commentary on 2 Tim, ad loc.”).

The gifts which God confers on the priest “are not transitory or temporary in him,
but stable and permanent, attached as they are to an indelible character, im-
pressed on his soul, by which he is made a priest forever (cf. Ps 109:4), in the
likeness of Him in whose priesthood he has been made to share” (Pius XI, “Ad
Catholici Sacerdotii”, 17).

“The laying on of my hands”: see the note on 1 Tim 4:14.

7. The gift of God, received in the sacrament of Order by the laying on of hands,
includes sanctifying grace and sacramental grace, and the actual graces nee-
ded for performing ministerial functions in a worthy manner. The Council of Trent
uses this text (vv. 6-7) when it solemnly defines that Priestly Order is a sacra-
ment instituted by Jesus Christ (cf. “De Sacram. Ordinis”, chap. 3).

The minister, then, must be courageous in performing his office: he should preach
the truth unambiguously even if it clashes with the surroundings; he should do so
with love, and be open to everyone despite their faults; with sobriety and modera-
tion, always seeing the good of souls, not his own advantage. Since the days of
the Fathers the Church has urged priests to develop these virtues: “Priests
should be compassionate”, St Polycarp warns; “they should show mercy to all;
they should try to reclaim those who go astray, visit the sick, and care for the
poor, the orphan and the widow. They should be concerned always to do what is
honorable in the sight of God and men. They should avoid any show of anger, any
partiality or trace of greed. They should not be over-ready to believe ill of anyone,
not too severe in their censure, being well aware that we all owe the debt of sin”
(”Letter to the Philippians”, chap. 6).

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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.

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.

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

From: Mark 3:31-35

The True Kinsmen of Jesus

[31] And His (Jesus’) mother and His brethren came; and standing outside they
went to Him and called Him. [32] And a crowd was sitting about Him: and they
said to Him, “Your mother and Your brethren are outside, asking for You.” [33]
And He replied, “Who are My mother and My brethren?” [34] And looking around
on those who sat about Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brethren!
[35] Whoever does the will of God is My brother, and sister, and mother.”

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Commentary:

31-35. In Aramaic, the language used by the Jews, the word “brethren” is a broad
term indicating kinship: nephews, first cousins, and relatives in general are called
‘brethren’ (for further explanation cf. note on Mark 6:1-3). “Jesus did not say this
to disown His mother, but to show that she is worthy of honor not only account of
having given birth to Jesus, but also because she has all the virtues” (Theophylact,
“Enarratio In Evangelium Marci, in loc.”).

Therefore, the Church reminds us that the Blessed Virgin “in the course of her
Son’s preaching received the words whereby, in extolling a kingdom beyond the
concerns and ties of flesh and blood, He declared blessed those who heard and
kept the word of God as she was faithfully doing” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”,
58).

Our Lord, then, is also telling us that if we follow Him we will share His life more
intimately than if we were a member of His family. St.Thomas explains this by
saying that Christ “had an eternal generation and a generation in time, and gave
preference to the former. Those who do the will of the Father reach Him by Hea-
venly generation [...]. Everyone who does the will of the Father, that is to say,
who obeys Him, is a brother or sister of Christ, because he is like Him who ful-
filled the will of His Father. But he who not only obeys but converts others, be-
gets Christ in them, and thus becomes like the Mother of Christ” (”Commentary
on St. Matthew”, 12, 49-50.)

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

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White.

EITHER:

First reading	2 Timothy 1:1-8 ©

From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus in his design to promise life in Christ Jesus; to Timothy, dear child of mine, wishing you grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.

Night and day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear and remembering my duty to him as my ancestors did, and always I remember you in my prayers; I remember your tears and long to see you again to complete my happiness. Then I am reminded of the sincere faith which you have; it came first to live in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I have no doubt that it is the same faith in you as well.

That is why I am reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power, and love, and self-control. So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; but with me, bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy.

OR:

Alternative First reading	Titus 1:1-5 ©

From Paul, servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ to bring those whom God has chosen to faith and to the knowledge of the truth that leads to true religion; and to give them the hope of the eternal life that was promised so long ago by God. He does not lie and so, at the appointed time, he revealed his decision, and, by the command of God our saviour, I have been commissioned to proclaim it. To Titus, true child of mine in the faith that we share, wishing you grace and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our saviour.

The reason I left you behind in Crete was for you to get everything organised there and appoint elders in every town, in the way that I told you.

Psalm
Psalm 95:1-3,7-8,10 ©