Paul writes to Timothy in the letter we hear from this evening in our first reading. At the time, Timothy was in charge of the Christian community in Ephesus, a community that Paul helped establish. We can tell from the tone of the letter that Paul has great affection for Timothy. Paul reminds him of the mysteries of the faith in which we believe. Even though Paul is able to give a summary of these mysteries, a full explanation is beyond our human understanding. As I read this letter from Paul to Timothy, I thought about the letters that I used to write home as a missionary. My location in Ecuador was so remote that phone service was not available. I would write letters quite frequently, so much so that the Chilean nuns in our mission site used to kid me as to how many letters I used to send and receive. We would receive our mail every 2 – 3 weeks, since the post office was a 4-hour bus ride away. When I came back from the mission field, my brother handed me a stack of the letters I had written him; he had saved them to give to me, which I thought was very thoughtful of him. Letter writing was such an important mode of communication for so long in human history, but now with cell phones, emails, texts, and Facebook, letter writing is a lost art. In fact, so many of our children are not learning cursive handwriting in school, perhaps many of our handwritten letters will not be able to be read in the future. Paul, Timothy, and the members of the Early Church are a part of the faith that has been passed down to us, a big part of the traditions we honor today in our Church. And in many ways, the podcasts, texts, and blogs that we write today continue to communicate the message of our faith in that same tradition.
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