January 26, 2004 - Wednesday, 3rd Week in Ordinary Time

Memorial of Sts. Timothy and Titus

Readings:
2 Tim 1:1-8; or Tit 1:1-5;
Ps 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 7-8a, 10; Lk 10:1-9

Introduction

Today we celebrate two close associates of the apostle Paul. Paul put them in charge of Christian communities and wrote letters to them to tell them what is expected of leaders of Christian communities, especially how they should be servants and models of the people entrusted to them.

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
Saints Timothy and Titus, assistants of St. Paul,
passed on the mighty word of your Son
and tried to live by them.
Give to your Church credible leaders
who lead in living by the word and life of Jesus
Let their words stir our hearts
and bring us the new life
of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading: 2 Tm 1:1-8 Or Tit 1:1-5

Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
for the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
to Timothy, my dear child:
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am grateful to God,
whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did,
as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day.
I yearn to see you again, recalling your tears,
so that I may be filled with joy,
as I recall your sincere faith
that first lived in your grandmother Lois
and in your mother Eunice
and that I am confident lives also in you.

For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel
with the strength that comes from God.

Or

Tit 1:1-5

Paul, a slave of God and Apostle of Jesus Christ
for the sake of the faith of God's chosen ones
and the recognition of religious truth,
in the hope of eternal life
that God, who does not lie, promised before time began,
who indeed at the proper time revealed his word
in the proclamation with which I was entrusted
by the command of God our savior,
to Titus, my true child in our common faith:
grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior.

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.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 7-8a, 10

R. (3) Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.

Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name.
R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.

Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.

Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and praise;
give to the LORD the glory due his name!
R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.

Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.

Gospel Reading: Lk 10:1-9

The Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place, where he himself was to go. And he said to them, "The harvest is rich, but the workers are few. So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to his harvest. Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know.

Whatever house you enter, first bless them saying: 'Peace to this house.' If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house.

When they welcome you in any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there and say to them: 'The kingdom of God has drawn near to you."

Commentary

IN these first weeks of Ordinary Time we look to our ancestors in faith and how they put the gospel into practice after the resurrection of Jesus. These men (and women) are the second generation: disciples of disciples and were often sent out two by two to preach by their very presence and way of visiting and traveling that the kingdom of justice and peace was indeed already loose in the world. They went relying on hospitality, with only the bare essentials of what they might need-no purses or bags; with no weapons or defenses-no sandals, unable even to run from danger. And everywhere they went they brought Peace as a blessing. They stayed in welcomed and remembered that they came in the name of the Lord.

If you were traveling who would you take with you? What would you consider essential? How do you (or we) practice non-violence and go without weapons or long-term financial security? Is there anything in our lives that preaches the radical presence of the kingdom of justice and peace in the world without words?

 

*Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
people entrusted themselves to your Son
because they saw that he was genuine.
Make the ministers of your word
close and available to their people.
May they learn from your Son
to give themselves without regrets
as a piece of bread broken and shared
and a cup of gladdening wine

passed from hand to hand,
together with Christ Jesus our Lord.

*Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
your Son Jesus has spoken to us here
and broken to us the bread of himself.
Send us leaders who keep reminding us
of his word of life and hope
and of his deeds of saving love.
Let these bring us together
as a community of service
in which your Son is alive
as our Lord for ever and ever.

Do not let us hide our faith
but make it shine in each of us
and in all our communities
as a bright light shining on all.
Let it not be us
but the love and the goodness of your Son
that brightens our world.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

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