From: 2 Timothy 4:9-17b
News and Messages
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Commentary:
9-18. In his letters St Paul often asks people to do things for him; his messages
here are particularly moving, given as they are on the eve of his martyrdom. He
is following the example of Christ: he puts his trust in God even though his friends
desert him (vv. 10-12, 16); his enemies harass him more than ever, yet he forgives
them (vv. 14, 16); in the midst of his sufferings he praises the Lord (v. 18). His
mention of Thessalonica, Galatia, Dalmatia, Ephesus, Troas, Corinth and Miletus
show how warmly he remembers places which were very receptive to the Christian
message. These few verses constitute a mini-biography.
His generosity of spirit is shown by the fact that he mentions so many disciples
by name; to all he gave of his best; some of them fell by the wayside but most of
them stayed faithful; some are mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles or in other
letters, but for others this is the only mention in the New Testament. However, all
without exception must have been very present to the Apostle who became “all
things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Cor 9:22).
10. Demas was one of St Paul’s companions during his first Roman imprisonment
(cf. Col 4:14; Philem 24); but now, when the Apostle is near to death and in a har-
sher prison than before, he has left him alone.
“That passage of the Second Episode to Timothy makes me shudder, when the
Apostle laments that Demas had fallen in love with the present world and gone to
Thessalonica. For a trifle, and for fear of persecution, this man, whom St Paul had
quoted in other epistles as being among the saints, had betrayed the divine enter-
prise. I shudder when I realize how little I am: and it leads me to demand from my-
self faithfulness to the Lord even in situations that may seem to be indifferent —
for if they do not help me to be more united to Him, I do not want them” (St. J.
Escriva, “Furrow”, 343).
13. The cloak he refers to was a sleeveless cape used for protection against rain
and cold. The “books” were probably less important documents usually written on
sheets of papyrus, whereas the parchments would probably have contained more
important texts, such as Sacred Scripture. This message does indicate that St
Paul was fond of study and reading. And the fact that the letter goes into details
like this speaks in favor of its being written by Paul.
16-17. St Paul points to the contrast between the way men treat him and the way
God does. Because of the hazards involved in staying with Paul or defending him,
some of his friends, even some of his closest friends, have deserted him; whereas
God stays by his side.
“You seek the company of friends who, with their conversation and affection, with
their friendship, make the exile of this world more bearable for you. There is no-
thing wrong with that, although friends sometimes let you down. But how is it you
don’t frequent daily with greater intensity the company, the conversation, of the
great Friend, who never lets you down?” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 88).
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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: Luke 10:1-9
The Mission of the Seventy Disciples
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Commentary:
1-12. Those who followed our Lord and received a calling from Him (cf. Luke 9:
57-62) included many other disciples in addition to the Twelve (cf. Mark 2:15).
We do not know who most of them were; but undoubtedly some of them were
with Him all along, from when Jesus was baptized by John up to the time of His
ascension —for example, Joseph called Barrabas, and Matthias (cf. Acts 1:21-
26). We can also include Cleopas and his companion, whom the risen Christ
appeared to on the road to Emmaus (cf. Luke 24:13-35).
From among these disciples, our Lord chooses seventy-two for a special as-
signment. Of them, as of the Apostles (cf. Luke 9:1-5), He demands total de-
tachment and complete abandonment to divine providence.
From Baptism onwards every Christian is called by Christ to perform a mission.
Therefore, the Church, in our Lord’s name, “makes to all the laity an earnest ap-
peal in the Lord to give a willing, noble and enthusiastic response to the voice of
Christ, who at this hour is summoning them more pressingly, and to the urging
of the Holy Spirit. The younger generation should feel this call to be addressed
in a special way to themselves; they should welcome it eagerly and generously.
It is the Lord Himself, by this Council, who is once more inviting all the laity to
unite themselves to Him ever more intimately, to consider His interests as their
own (cf. Philippians 2:5), and to join in His mission as Savior. It is the Lord who
is again sending them into every town and every place where He Himself is to
come (cf. Luke 10:1). He sends them on the Church’s apostolate, an apostolate
that is one yet has different forms and methods, an apostolate that must all the
time be adapting itself to the needs of the moment; He sends them on an apos-
tolate where they are to show themselves His cooperators, doing their full share
continually in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord their labor cannot be
lost (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:58)” (Vatican II, “Apostolicam Actuositatem”, 33).
3-4. Christ wants to instill apostolic daring into His disciples; this is why He says,
“I send you out”, which leads St. John Chrysostom to comment: “This suffices to
give us encouragement, to give us confidence and to ensure that we are not afraid
of our assailants” (”Hom. on St. Matthew”, 33). The Apostles’ and disciples’ bold-
ness stemmed from their firm conviction that they were on a God-given mission:
they acted, as Peter the Apostle confidently explained to the Sanhedrin, in the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, “for there is no other name under heaven by
which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
“And the Lord goes on,” St. Gregory the Great adds, “Carry no purse, no bag,
no sandals; and salute no one on the road.’ Such should be the confidence the
preacher places in God that even if he is not provided with the necessities of life,
he is convinced that they will come his way. This will ensure that worry about pro-
viding temporal things for himself does not distract him from providing others with
eternal things” (”In Evangelia Homiliae”, 17). Apostolate calls for generous self-
surrender which leads to detachment; therefore, Peter, following our Lord’s com-
mandment, when the beggar at the Beautiful Gate asked him for alms (Acts 3:2-
3), said, “I have no silver or gold” (”ibid.”, 3:6), “not so as to glory in his poverty”,
St. Ambrose points out, “but to obey the Lord’s command. It is as if he were sa-
ying, ‘You see in me a disciple of Christ, and you ask me for gold? He gave us
something much more valuable than gold, the power to act in His name. I do not
have what Christ did not give me, but I do have what He did give me: In the name
of Jesus Christ, arise and walk’ (cf. Acts 3:6)” (”Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam,
in loc”.). Apostolate, therefore, demands detachment from material things and it
also requires us to be always available, for there is an urgency about apostolic
work.
“And salute no one on the road”: “How can it be”, St. Ambrose asks himself,
“that the Lord wishes to get rid of a custom so full of kindness? Notice, however,
that He does not just say, ‘Do not salute anyone’, but adds, ‘on the road.’ And
there is a reason for this.
“He also commanded Elisha not to salute anyone he met, when He sent him to
lay his staff on the body of the dead child (2 Kings 4:29): He gave him this order
so as to get him to do this task without delay and effect the raising of the child,
and not waste time by stopping to talk to any passerby he met. Therefore, there
is no question of omitting good manners to greet others; it is a matter of remo-
ving a possible obstacle in the way of service; when God commands, human
considerations should be set aside, at least for the time being. To greet a per-
son is a good thing, but it is better to carry out a divine instruction which could
easily be frustrated by a delay (”ibid.”).
6. Everyone is “a son of peace” who is disposed to accept the teaching of the
Gospel which brings with it God’s peace. Our Lord’s recommendation to His di-
sciples to proclaim peace should be a constant feature of all the apostolic ac-
tion of Christians: “Christian apostolate is not a political program or a cultural al-
ternative. It implies the spreading of good, ‘infecting’ others with a desire to love,
sowing peace and joy” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 124).
Feeling peace in our soul and in our surroundings is an unmistakable sign that
God is with us, and a fruit of the Holy Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:22): “Get rid of these
scruples that deprive you of peace. What takes away your peace of soul cannot
come from God. When God comes to you, you will feel the truth of those gree-
tings: My peace I give to you..., peace I leave you..., peace be with you..., and
you will feel it even in the midst of troubles” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 258).
7. Our Lord clearly considered poverty and detachment a key feature in an apos-
tle. But He was aware of His disciples’ material needs and therefore stated the
principle that apostolic ministry deserves its recompense. Vatican II reminds us
that we all have an obligation to contribute to the sustenance of those who gene-
rously devote themselves to the service of the Church: “Completely devoted as
they are to the service of God in the fulfillment of the office entrusted to them,
priests are entitled to receive a just remuneration. For ‘the laborer deserves his
wages’ (Luke 10:7), and ‘the Lord commanded that they who proclaim the Gos-
pel should get their living by the Gospel’ (1 Corinthians 9:14). For this reason,
insofar as provision is not made from some other source for the just remunera-
tion of priests, the faithful are bound by a real obligation of seeing to it that the
necessary provision for a decent and fitting livelihood for the priests are avai-
lable” (Vatican II, “Presbyterorum Ordinis”, 20).
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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.