Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
The Nativity of Our Lord
Titus 3:4–7
December 25, 2022

Christmas provides four Masses with many choices of readings. Most communities choose the readings for Midnight Mass for all the Masses to hear the story of the birth of Jesus in Luke. This is time honored and eagerly awaited but means that we do not hear this section from the “Letter to Titus,” which is read as the Second Reading during the Mass at Dawn. It is always powerful and particularly relevant this year.

This is one of the pastoral letters written in the name of St. Paul but most likely composed years after his death by a disciple. They reflect the situation of the church which the apostles left behind. The first generation of witnesses had died and the leaders who were left needed to establish not only how they would govern but why they could govern. This did not arise abstractly but in concrete situations. These letters addressed them and are thus “pastoral” in that the new leaders prove their worth by the wisdom of their responses. Their use of Paul’s name would not have been seen as dishonest; everyone knew he was dead. They allowed the readers to look at what Paul had said and done in other situations and see if what his successors wrote “fits.” Titus’ letter fits very well not in the original situation but also for our Christmas.

Continue reading “Christmas – Reborn in the Spirit” →

The Prophet Isaiah, Benedetto Gennari, 17th century, Burghley collection

Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel.
(Isaiah 7:14)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Romans 1:1–7
December 18, 2022

After a week with St. James, we return to Paul’s “Letter to the Romans,” indeed to its opening. As we have seen before Paul is writing to a community he did not found nor one in which he has many friends. He also has a very clear motive for making a good impression. Paul is going to Rome as a prisoner to be tried by the emperor. This will not be immediate, and he will need to be housed and fed. He wishes the Roman Church to pay for a good jailor and a decent room where he can still speak with others and write. Paul, however, has a problematic reputation. Some people are still suspicious of him because he once persecuted the church, others because of his occasional intemperance. They most likely read the letter to the Galatians. He needed to be very careful to make a good impression on the Roman Christians. Further details can be found here.

Besides the political, there is a theological issue. Paul is an apostle. An apostle is literally one who is sent. Yet the early church gave apostle a fuller meaning. An apostle required that one have seen the risen Lord, been commissioned by him to preach the gospel and, for Paul at least, to found churches. This is wider than the 12 and Paul goes to great lengths to show that on the road to Damascus he had an encounter with the risen Lord who commissioned him to preach to the Gentiles. We see in the “Acts of the Apostles” that Paul’s apostleship was widely accepted, at least in the generation after his death. So as an apostle he had the right to demand to be housed and protected but he had no means to command them. This would be difficult for the most experienced diplomat, which is not a word that comes to mind with Paul. He will need to set both the mood and his terms in this introduction.

Continue reading “4th Sunday of Advent – Living by the Meaning of His Birth” →