Tuesday January 26

Third Week In Ordinary Time

 

TITUS AND TIMOTHY

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.

Reading I: 2 Tm 1:1-8

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
Tim 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.

 

Alleluia: Ps 119:105
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A lamp to my feet is your word,
a light to my path.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Lk 10:1-9

The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit.
He said to them,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter,
first say, ‘Peace to this household.’
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the laborer deserves payment.
Do not move about from one house to another.
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’”

 

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.

 

Commentary

Anxieties

People living in cities would not understand the anxieties and tensions of a farmer, when it is time for harvest. Harvesting in time is as important as the whole process of cultivating the land. I have seen people becoming anxious and nervous at the time of harvest because if it is not done in time, their whole effort goes futile. Imagine the tension of a farmer who has cultivated his land and it is time for harvest now but there are not enough workers for hire.

When Jesus entrusted his mission of proclaiming the Good News to his followers, we feel a similar anxiety in his message. He is glad that there is an abundance of produce, but is anxious that there are not enough labourers. That anxiety is reflected in his following message as well: there is no time to waste because you have a huge task ahead. The Lord deliberates a number of requirements for his Mission – The first requirement is “Prayer”. It all begins with prayer.

After spending a year as a missionary in India, St. Francis Xavier wrote in a letter to his conferrers: “Many people are not becoming Christians for one reason: there is nobody to talk to them about Christ and nobody to make them Christians. Again and again I have thought of going round the universities of Europe and crying out like a madman for young people to come and help me”

As the Church celebrates the feast of Saints Timothy and Titus, two close associates of St. Paul who responded to the cry of the Lord to join the harvesting mission, the Word of God extends to us the invitation. Are you aware that the success of your witness does not depend on your skills and capabilities but only on your availability to God’s call? If you fail to participate in the Mission of spreading the Good News of Jesus, you fail to be a disciple.