Oct 3, 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

From: 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14

Response to Grace
-----------------
[6] Hence I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; [7] God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.

St Paul, Herald of the Gospel
-----------------------------
[8] Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but take your share of suffering for the gospel in the power of God. [13] Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus; [14] guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
********************************************
Commentary:

6. "The gift of G od" is the priestly character which Timothy received on the day of his ordination. St Paul is using very graphic and precise language: by the sacrament of Order a divine gift is conferred on the priest; it is like an ember which needs to be revived from time to time in order to make it glow and give forth the warmth it contains. St Thomas Aquinas comments that "the grace of God is like a fire which does not flow when it is covered by ashes; the same thing happens when grace is covered over in a person by sluggishness or natural fear" ("Commentary on 2 Tim, ad loc.").

The gifts which God confers on the priest "are not transitory or temporary in him, but stable and permanent, attached as they are to an indelible character, impressed on his soul, by which he is made a priest forever (cf. Ps 109:4), in the likeness of Him in whose priesthood he has been made to share" (Pius XI, "Ad Catholici Sacerdotii", 17).

"The laying on of my hands": see the note on 1 Tim 4:14.

7. The gift of God, received in the sacrament of Order by the laying on of hands, includes sanctifying grace and sacramental grace, and the actual graces needed for performing ministerial functions in a worthy manner. The Council of Trent uses this text (vv. 6-7) when it solemnly defines that Priestly Order is a sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ (cf. "De Sacram. Ordinis", chap. 3).

The minister, then, must be courageous in performing his office: he should preach the truth unambiguously even if it clashes with the surroundings; he should do so with love, and be open to everyone despite their faults; with sobriety and moderation, always seeing the good of souls, not his own advantage. Since the days of the Fathers the Church has urged priests to develop these virtues: "Priests should be compassionate", St Polycarp warns; "they should show mercy to all; they should try to reclaim those who go astray, visit the sick, and care for the poor, the orphan and the widow. They should be concerned always to do what is honorable in the sight of God and men. They should avoid any show of anger, any partiality or trace of greed. They should not be over-ready to believe ill of anyone, not too severe in their censure, being well aware that we all owe the debt of sin" ("Letter to the Philippians", chap. 6).

13-14. In guarding what has been entrusted to him (cf. notes on 1 Tim 6:20 and 2 Tim 1:12), Timothy, like all the pastors of the Church, receives the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit. "Guiding the Churchin the way of all truth (cf. Jn 16:13) and unifying her in communion and in the works of the ministry, (the Spirit) bestows upon her varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her; and he adorns her with his fruits (cf. Eph 4:11-12; 1 Cor 12:4; Gal 5:22)" (Vatican II, "Lume n Gentium", 4).

The Holy Spirit has been with the Church since the day of Pentecost, ever-active in the sanctification of all believers. His action includes guaranteeing the faithful transmission of the entire body of teaching revealed by God, ensuring that it be unchanged in any way.

The First Vatican Council teaches that the Holy Spirit "was not promised to the successors of St. Peter so that they by their own revelation might make known some new teaching; he was promised so that by means of his help they might reverently guard and faithfully expound the revelation transmitted by the Apostles, that is, the deposit of faith" ("Pastor Aeternus", Chap. 4).

***********************************************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.