A Love Letter to Timothy

A love letter from St. Paul to St.Timothy (and from a proud uncle to his nephew)

Looking at the Saint of the Day for tomorrow, I was delighted to see it is St. Timothy, since my nephew is named for him.  Tim and his beautiful bride Rosarie (I LOVE that name, BTW) got married last week in a very beautiful church with a lot of family and friends in attendance.  It was clear to all who attended that faith in and love for Jesus Christ has been and will continue to be at the center of their marriage.

If you don’t know my nephew Tim, you only need to read the first eight verses of the first chapter of Paul’s 2^nd letter to Timothy to get acquainted.  I say this because as I was reading it again today, my only thought was “This sounds like a letter my brother Bob would write to his son, his ‘dear child’” if such letters could be written from Heaven.  Of course, I wouldn’t dare to change a word of Holy Scripture, so I put asterisks next to certain lines and will footnote them after the passage.

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.  ***

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*When reading this line, you could substitute the names Angela and Marilyn for Lois and Eunice.

**While Paul is probably (Traditionally) speaking of the ordination of Timothy as a bishop, there are gifts of God that Tim has received through the Sacraments of Baptism, Communion, Reconciliation, Confirmation and Matrimony that are every bit as powerful as that of Ordination.

 

*** God knows Tim has borne his share of hardship in this life—and usually with the silent confidence in Christ’s mercy that comes with faith.