26 January 2023
Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops
“For this reason I left you in Crete so that you might set right what remains to be done and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you.” –Titus 1:5
St. Titus had the difficult task of following in St. Paul’s footsteps, taking on the care of the local churches which Paul had founded. The responsibility to “set right what remains to be done” must have seemed daunting, especially in the absence of Paul.
And at the same time, St. Titus and St. Timothy had the great joy of watching the grace of Christ at work in the very beginnings of the Church. They got to foster the life of faith of those first Christians, and to continue the mission for which St. Paul was to die a martyr’s death. The letters of St. Paul indicate that they had many things to set right: immorality; factionalism; stinginess; etc. Yet, they were capable of not addressing these issues with God’s grace, but also of identifying and appointing others in the churches with whom to work in serving God’s People.
Though many years after St.s Timothy and Titus, we too have the task of accepting responsibility for serving others in our local dioceses and parishes. Especially when we are tempted to fall into some of the temptations of those early Christians against faith, hope, and true charity, let us turn to the letters of St. Paul, such as those to St. Timothy or St. Titus, and in them seek counsel for how we may see our brothers and sisters in Christ’s light, and so work together with them to build up the Church.