Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, bishops
Our saints today were the spiritual “sons” of St. Paul; two disciples he had raised in the faith and in the Christian life. The very first command from God to mankind was to be fruitful and to multiply (Genesis 1:28), and simply because St. Paul was unwed (1 Corinthians 7:8) did not mean he, or anyone celibate for the sake of the Kingdom (Matthew 19:12), was exempt from this commandment, and our Gospel today highlights this important truth.
You may remember in your high school biology classes that a living organism reaches maturity when it is capable of producing offspring; in other words a living creature is not fully grown, is not finished coming into its fullness, until it is capable of being fruitful. The same is true of the Christian life: until we are capable of sharing the Gospel in such a way that we are able to raise up disciples of Christ by our own witness and work, then we have room yet to grow. We are meant to be sowers of the seed, to share the Gospel with others in a manner that is meant to be fruitful, and if the soil is not suitable for growing to not hesitate to labor however we can to prepare that soil to increase its suitability (Luke 13:8), that it might yet produce fruit.
When we examine our own faith lives, do we see fruitfulness: has our witness, has our labor for the Kingdom of God, borne anything for Our Lord? Do we have a Timothy or a Titus who has come to Christ through our witness and care? If not, pray and ask the Lord to grant the grace to be fruitful, to reach that level of maturity in the faith such that you may, in spirit, keep to that first of commandments: be fruitful and multiply.