Tuesday, January 26, 2010

St Timothy the Timid?

So today is the feast of SS Timothy and Titus, Paul's right and left-hand men in the field. Poor Timothy! We hear Paul tell him things like "Don't let anyone look down on you because of your youth"; "the Spirit God has given us is no cowardly Spirit"; we hear about his "frequent illnesses"... To be quite frank, Timothy comes across as a bit of a wuss.
And yet here was a man who willingly accepted circumcision that he and Paul both knew was unnecessary in terms of faith--but vital if he was to join Paul in his missionary life (as soon as he was up to it!). He is credited as co-author of some of Paul's most prominent letters. Paul could send him back to troubled communities, and know they would be in good hands. He could even patch things up between Paul and those same communities when there had been a falling-out. And we have evidence that Timothy followed Paul in enduring "chains and hardship for the Gospel," because the end of the letter to the Hebrews (whose author only God knows), we learn "our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you."
But I have yet to hear that in a homily.

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