1/26/2018 - Homily – Memorial St Timothy and St Titus – 2 Timothy 1:1-8

      We celebrated the conversion of St Paul yesterday, on January 25.  Today we celebrate and honor St Timothy and St Titus, two companions of Paul who helped him in his missionary endeavors.   Just before Christmas, I went to Yazoo City to concelebrate a funeral mass and visited the historic Glenwood Cemetery. While I was there,  I passed by the graves of four members of the Sisters of Charity who died here in Yazoo City in the 1800s.  These nuns were teachers at the Catholic school that was founded by their order.  I remember reading an account stating that these nuns traveled from their home base in Kentucky to Yazoo City in a stage coach right after the Civil War.  When I served in Yazoo City as the pastor of the Catholic Community there, I often heard stories of those who remembered the sisters who taught at the school, of their dedication, sacrifice, and hard work. I often thought of how the Catholic community in Yazoo City was a fruit of all those who came before us.  

       As we celebrate the memorial of Timothy and Titus today, we wonder who these men were in the history of our faith. Timothy, Paul’s missionary companion, later became the administrator of the important Christian community in Ephesus, while Titus served the Church in Crete. 

         In Paul's letter of 2nd Timothy, he recalls the importance of the Holy Spirit in the gift of our faith, as well as how our faith has been passed down to us, with Timothy being greatly influenced by the faith of his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. The faith of our fathers and mothers, the faith of our ancestors, lives on in us. 
       Paul exhorts Timothy to stir into flame the gift of God that has been given to him, telling him, “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather of power, love, and self-control.”  Truly living our faith and our Christian values in our lives, discerning the will of God for us and trying to follow it – this is stirring into flame the gifts and the blessings that God has given to us. 
         Our lives of faith are not always easy.  Paul and his companions suffered great hardship and persecution for their faith, but their steadfastness, zeal, and the grace of God kept their faith alive. May the faith of our ancestors, may the faith of the great missionaries such as Paul, Timothy, Titus, and those came to our Diocese in Mississippi stir the flame within us, keeping our faith alive and vibrant.