“The Lord stood by me and gave me strength.” 2 Timothy 4
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” Luke 10:2-3
Piety
Let us pray: God, you know that the path is hard and that we will never celebrate the rainbow with enduring the rain. Give us fortitude so we can be persistent in our proclamation of your word. Give us justice so we can encourage all to seek you. Give us temperance so we can pass up the temptations of the world to achieve your works on earth. Give us prudence so we can see what is good and what is not. Help us to learn all this by the example of our new Saint Mother Theodore Guerin. Amen.
Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/101806.shtml
At the beginning of this chapter, St. Paul charges Timothy (and by extension all of us) with a difficult and serious mission. In 2 Timothy 4:2-5, we read:
Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths. But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry.
The road will be tough. St. Paul predicts discouraging times and asks, no pleads, with us to stick with the mission until it is fulfilled. He speaks from the experience of his first trial when all of his friends deserted him. Because “the laborers are few,” those who have a mission must persevere in it.
Just as Paul commissioned Timothy in his letter, Christ commissioned the apostles in the Good News reading from Luke. Jesus also knew the hardships ahead as he told the disciples that they were being sent like lambs to the wolves. When the mission is fulfilled through our piety, study and action, the Kingdom of God is at hand.
The law – a theme all week – comes back at us today in the face of Paul’s trial. Fortunately, the outcome was favorable here. However, rather than get preoccupied with the law, Paul encourages us to be preoccupied with the Good News. Christianity can not be proclaimed by talking, only by acting. After all, the Lord is pre-occupied with us. He will stand by us even if our friends do not. Don’t we owe the same to Him?
Action
“The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle.”[1] This underscores the theme of our readings throughout this week. No laws will provide for us the path to justification. The path to perfection does not pass through the court house or the state house or even the White House. It passes through the House of God.
This week, Pope Benedict gave the Church four new saints. These included French-born Mother Theodore Guerin. The associated Press wrote that, “She endured harsh conditions on the American frontier and resisted the objections of a local bishop in pursuing her dream of establishing Catholic education for pioneers. She established a college for women in Indiana, which enrolled its first student in 1841.”[2]
Her life epitomized the struggle, persistence and hardships that St. Paul alludes to in today’s reading from the second letter to Timothy.
What hardships do you have to endure for the Lord and your faith?
[1] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd edition. Paragraph 2015.
[2] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/15/AR2006101500141.html
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