Healing of the Ten Lepers, Jesus Mafa, 1973
from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.
Original source: http://www.librairie-emmanuel.fr.
(About this Image)

Jesus said in reply,
“Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”
Then he said to him, “Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you.”
(Luke 17:17–19)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Timothy 2:8–13
October 9, 2022

Last week we began examining the second letter of Paul to St Timothy
and I suggested that we read it as an epistolary novel. That is a novel
written in the form of a letter or letters. We will assume that the
author knew both Paul and Timothy as would many of those who read the
letter. The people are most likely real, and the situations would be
authentic. We will once more for convenience refer to the author as
Paul.

The instructions that Paul gave to Timothy on building the church are
less directed to its administrative structure than the attitudes and
virtues needed to lead a church. This week he will emphasize that no
matter who becomes Christian, the gospel requires a lively recognition
that Jesus was a Jew and that following him will not be easy.

Continue reading “28th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Remembering Jesus Is Risen” →

Photo by Joshua Lanzarini on Unsplash

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
The Lord replied,
“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
(Luke 17:5–6)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Timothy 1:6–8, 13–14
October 2, 2022

We begin today our readings from the second letter to Timothy. There is much that we do not know about this letter. As with the other pastoral epistles we are not certain if it was written by St. Paul, nor do we know if it was written before or after what we have come to call the 1^st letter to Timothy. They share some of the same details but do not refer to each other. They also are different in tone. This letter is much more personal. The author is not principally concerned about the structure of the churches after the death of the first generation of Apostles. Rather, he expresses his pleasure in the spiritual development of Timothy. Whether or not this was written by St. Paul, the virtues it expresses are clear and as valuable today as in the first century. We will also suggest below that the form in which they are expressed is particularly effective.

Continue reading “27th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Being the Presence of Jesus in the World” →