14. Pastoral Letters

LET’S KNOW THE BIBLE

In the collection of St. Paul’s letters, after the writings were sent to the community, there are letters sent to specific persons; besides the letter to Philemon, which we have already considered, together with Colossians, there are three letters at the end of the collection sent to Paul’s disciples, two to Timothy, and one to Titus.

These letters have been called Pastoral Letters in modern times, and we continue to use this title to describe these three works in which the apostle Paul gives the disciples concrete directions to organize the pastoral life in the Christian communities. Let’s try to place them in the apostle’s life; these are the last writings of Paul.

Let us remember that the apostle was arrested in Jerusalem in the year 58 and held in the prison of Caesarea Marittima for two years, and then transferred to Rome to await trial. He was shipwrecked during the transfer by sea, but was saved along with all the passengers and reached the island of Malta. From there, he was transferred to the capital of the empire, where he arrived in the spring of the year 61. Here he remained until the year 63, another two years of forced residence while awaiting trial. The trial was not held for lack of accusers, and Paul was released.

Here ends the account of the Acts of the Apostles and, from this point on, we have no more direct news of the apostle. We know that he died a martyr in Rome after a second imprisonment in the year 67, but what he did from 63 to 67 we do not have enough data to make conclusions, only some small references in the Pastoral Letters.

We imagine that the apostle resumed his travels, especially in Greece and the East where he organized the succession; that is, realizing that he was getting old and that the situation was very risky, Paul began to plan the relay. Although in the first phase of his apostleship, he may have had the idea that he would still be alive at the glorious coming of Christ, in time he matured the conviction that he would die before the parousia.

The idea of a Church organized to endure in time did not take hold immediately. The first Christian community thought they were an eschatological group. That is, the group chosen by the Lord for the end of history. They did not think of having a history and the need to organize themselves to live for centuries. They thought about living until the nearby end.

In the following years, the certainty matured that there had to be a history of the Church; that the Christian group would have to influence the history of humankind and accompany events through the centuries without a precise indication of when the end would come. Thus, in the ’60s, ‘70s and ’80s of the first century, the ecclesiastical structure came to be organized to last in time and Paul, in the last years of his life, took care of this organization. He thought about giving the task of apostles to his disciples who would have continued his work, giving instructions so that the disciples would train other disciples who would continue the work of the Gospel in time.

Thus, the first letter to Timothy and the letter to Titus were born. They are two very similar texts that contain essentially the same type of teaching. They are instructions, advice, practical indications for the organization of the Christian communities. The same indications are addressed to Timothy who was left in charge of the community of Ephesus, we would say bishop of Ephesus; and to Titus who was left as bishop of Crete. The bishops become the heirs of the apostles; they continue the apostolic work as leaders of the various communities.

Among the various terms that were used at the beginning, three emerged that were explicitly used to indicate the ordained ministry as a continuation of the apostolic work. Words widely used in the Greek language were used: deacons, presbyters, episcopus. We have not even translated them; we have kept them as they are, perhaps deforming them slightly. Deacon means servant, minister; presbyter means elder, but in the technical sense of ‘head of the family’; episcopus means inspector, overseer, one who looks down from above, one who controls and supervises.

As the various communities were organized, they grew in number, and it became necessary to give them an organic structure so that the apostolic patrimony linked to the Gospel and the direct testimony of the eyewitnesses would not be altered. That is why in these letters, Paul insists on the concept of deposit. There is a deposit of faith. It is a banking terminology, it corresponds to the patrimony deposited to Timothy and Titus, to whom is entrusted the task of safeguarding the deposit of the faith because many take certain Christian ideas and adapt them to their own needs.

Therefore, the fundamental task Paul attributes to the disciples, who become ‘episcopoi,’ is to oversee the doctrine, to guard the truth of the Gospel in fidelity to the teaching of the Apostles. They are important texts for the apostolic tradition, to highlight how it is this vital link with the apostles that gives rise to our Christian faith.

There has never been a leap where someone has changed the whole religion, inventing new things, betraying the origins, but there has always been continuity and organic growth. It is logical; we can imagine, and we can verify that in 2000 years there have been many changes, but in the experience of a person there are changes from a child to a young person, to an adult… how many changes occur in physique, mentality, character, and tastes, yet the person is always the same. There is a growth, a maturation, not always for the better, sometimes there are negative changes, but the person remains the same, that’s why when we talk about the tradition of the Church, we refer to organic growth. It’s still always the same person, maturing, evolving, sometimes getting better, sometimes getting worse, but it is always the same person anchored in the apostolic tradition.

The letters to Timothy and Titus convey this teaching, but there are also other interesting details; for example, in the first letter to Timothy, Paul speaks of himself, now he is old and has a new vision of himself; he writes: “This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost.” As a young man, he would never have said such a phrase.

As a young Pharisee, Paul was convinced that he was a good man, observant of the law, very respectful of the traditions, but he matured. When he met the Lord Jesus, he realized that all his religiosity was based on pride and his sin, and he realized that he was the chief of sinners, “but for that reason I was mercifully treated.” If we were to translate literally, we would have to force the language and say, ‘ I have been mercifulized’… I have been transformed “so that in me, as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life.”

The work of salvation is a change in the whole person. Paul offers himself, first of all, as an example and proof of this saving intervention of God that changes the whole person and brings to maturity, not in the sense that he turns the situation around, creating something that did not exist before, but maturing what was immature. Another very interesting text is found in the letter to Titus.

The center of this letter constitutes a small theological framework of such great importance that the tradition of the Church makes us read it every year during the Christmas Night Mass. And the fact is that on that night, attracted by the mystery of the birth of Jesus, and almost nobody pays attention to the second reading, and yet it is a jewel that deserves to be heard: “For the grace of God has appeared, saving all” God’s mercy appeared to teach us to live… “to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of the great God and of our savior Jesus Christ.”

Here again, the word ‘parousia’ is used again; to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age as we await the parousia. Try to think of these three words: temperance indicates the right relationship with oneself or with things; justly implies a right relationship with other people; devoutly, designates a good relationship with the Lord. The grace of God teaches us to live the fundamental relationships of our life in this world, as we await the parousia.

What Paul said in the first letters, he continues to say in the last letters. The perspective has changed; he is no longer so convinced of the imminent fulfillment, but the Christian life is still oriented towards the parousia. “Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good.”

The original text says: ‘what is beautiful.’ Paul, in these letters, uses the adjective ‘beautiful,’ he insists on beautiful works. The characteristic of the Christian life are the beautiful works, that is, a beautiful life; what does it mean? An existence characterized by harmony and, therefore, by beauty. It is concretely the fruit of the grace of God that has been revealed to us by the Lord.

The last letter written by Paul shortly before his death is the second letter to Timothy, a true spiritual testament. Imprisoned in Rome, according to tradition, in the Mamertine prison, under the rule of Nero, a few days before his beheading, Paul wrote these last words to his beloved disciple Timothy, expressing his state of mind and proposing his last recommendations, taking stock of his life: “For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.”

Paul now sees the harbor; he is accustomed to navigations and says that it is time to lower the sails, the ship is approaching, the race is over, but what he has preserved is faith; that is, that personal communion with the Lord Jesus who had conquered him several years before, and now he savors the moment of the definitive encounter. Shedding his blood as a martyr, he comes to this full communion. He receives the crown that the Lord has prepared for him, and after so many efforts, he enjoys his reward.