Written by Sr. Rosemary Finnegan, O.P.
Readings from: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012621.cfm
Whenever I think of St. Paul, whose conversion we celebrated yesterday, I always picture him blazing through the rugged countries of the Mediterranean on zeal with the message of Jesus. Nothing stopped the man on his mission. In today’s first reading, however, I see the gentler side of Paul, the side that takes comfort in the relationships he had with personal friends. We celebrate those friends this day, Sts. Timothy and Titus, who were early bishops and missionaries of the young church of Christ.
In our reading, Paul speaks to Timothy and of Timothy with such delight and calls him ‘my dear child’. He yearns to see him again so he can be filled with joy and recalls with delight how his mother and grandmother first shared their faith with Timothy. And like all friends and mentors, Paul encourages him to continue to testify with strength and ‘stir into a flame’ the gifts God gave him: power, love, and self-control.
Titus, too, was his friend and there is a letter in the Scriptures addressed to him as well. Paul looks upon Titus as a peacemaker, committed and generous to believers. Because of these qualities, Paul often sent him on missions to communities that were struggling with controversies. It was Titus who could iron out many of their difficulties and bring them back to their senses. By his words to Titus, Paul was also encouraging him to ‘stir into a flame’ the embers of the faith that needing stirring in those people.
‘Stir into a flame’ is a wonderful image for us to ponder. Timothy’s grandmother and mother obviously stirred into a flame their faith and passed it on to him. And Timothy and Titus, after receiving their call from God and encouragement from Paul, both continued with enthusiasm to stir the flames of their faith’ and pass it onto the Christian communities they served. As those flames grew, so did the Church.
So today we look inside ourselves, at the flame of faith within our hearts, and ask: What am I doing to stir those flames of faith? Then, how do I share that flame with others?
There’s an ancient Celtic prayer that many used each morning as the embers of the household hearth were stirred, and it’s a good prayer in which to end: “As I stir the embers of my daily fire, I ask you, living God, to stir the embers of my heart into a flame of love for you, my family, my neighbor, and my enemy. Amen.”
https://thedailyprayerblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/stir-embers-of-my-heart.html
