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.

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Rich Man and the Poor Lazarus, Hendrik Terbrugghen,
1625, Centraal Museum (Utrecht)
(About this Image)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Tim 6:11–16
September 25, 2022

We have been reading from the first letter of Paul to Timothy for the past two weeks. We will conclude our examination this week with Paul’s final remarks and encouragement to his disciple and protégé. Again, we are unsure if Paul wrote the letter himself or if it was written by the leadership of the Pauline community. This is an interesting question but not the essential one and indeed can obscure the reality of the situation. The first generation of Christians was dying off and they had to examine not only who will replace them but also what kind of structure will be needed and most importantly what skills and virtues will be required.

Paul has seen and taught clearly that doctrine and living go together. If a Christian is taught a gospel that is not true, which meant for Paul getting who Jesus is wrong, it will be seen in his or her actions. We have seen this many times before in Paul writings and indeed in 1 Timothy. As he is concluding, he reviews this again in the passage immediately before today’s reading”

Continue reading “26th Sunday in Ordinary Time – How We Live Each Day” →