Today we celebrate the feast of Saints Timothy and Titus. Saints who chose to be pliable and usable in the hands of God. The 1st reading is part of a letter by St Paul to his spiritual son St Timothy. As we reflect on the Word, we ask God’s grace to imitate the Lord through their lives.

St Paul begins by lifting a heartfelt Praise and Thanks to God for St Timothy’s life, faith and ministry and encour¬ages St Timothy; To rekindle the Gift of God that is in him, revealing a truth that God has not given him a spirit of timidity, but rather a Spirit of Power, of Love and Self-control. An appropriate word during a time when St Timothy perhaps felt disgraced by the imprisonment or discouraged by the void left by St Paul, as St Paul was also pos¬sibly facing death. Often we too have been tempted to feel sad and hopeless in our circumstances or carry doubt and discouragement in the wilderness waiting on God’s promise. The Words of the Holy Spirit through St Paul can help illuminate our hearts afresh today.

St Paul reveals that when we received Jesus Christ into our lives and believed in the Gospel, we received the Gift of God and the seal of the Spirit, with the greatness of His Power and His glori¬ous Inheritance (Ephesians 1:19). Hence as the Lord overcame the world, we too can, for we have not been given a spirit of Ti¬midity (to pull back in fear or weakness), rather a spirit of Love and Self-control, which prompts us to rise above and follow God. Blessed are the eyes that see this truth (Luke 10:23) and so are we.

We can be generous with our exhortations towards those most in need, just as St Paul generously gave his exhortations to strengthen saints Timothy & Titus. For we ourselves are confident of the Love of God and remember what God has done for us. St Titus like St Timothy was a close and trusted disciple of St. Paul, whom he called his partner and co-worker. In St Paul’s letter to Titus, we dis¬cover more of the exhortations given to him and his missionary journeys.

Prayer: Abba Father, Help us today to fan into flame the Gift of God to love those who hurt us and to follow not our passions but God. Amen