Friday in the Third Week of Ordinary Time, January 26, 2024

The Feast of St. Timothy and St. Titus

Mark 4, 21-25

Jesus said to his disciples, “Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lamp stand? For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light. Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.” He also told them, “Take care what you hear. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you. To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Saint Timothy and Saint Titus were early converts of St. Paul from the Gentiles.  They accompanied him on various missionary journeys and he prized their assistance.  Paul appointed them the first bishops of Ephesus and Crete, respectively.  Both are considered martyrs by the Holy Church.

“Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lamp stand?”. We really should marvel at how the Lord Jesus uses the commonplace to explain spiritual mysteries.  Just as the Son of God became man in order for us to hear his teachings in our words, so he takes eternal truths and puts them in terms any of us can easily understand.  In this verse he asks a question with a perfectly obvious answer.  A child could give the right answer: No, a lamp is brought in to be placed on a lamp stand so that it can give light to all.  This saying is set by St. Mark directly after the Parable of the Sower and the Seed, explaining why not everyone accepts or perseveres in the Gospel, with the last line speaking about those who do accept it and persevere in it who will bear fruit thirty-, sixty-, or a hundred-fold.  Placing this saying here, Mark shows that Jesus is teaching that this fruit, the good works wrought through faith, is meant to be seen.  They are meant to give light so that all may see not just the doer of the deeds, but the One for whom these deeds were done.  “For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light.”  A person’s good deeds, even if not recognized in their time, will be recognized later, and likewise one’s wicked deeds.  All will be made visible in order for God’s perfect justice to be made manifest.  At the end of the world no one will be left wondering why a certain person was saved or another lost.

“The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you.”  We increase our capacity for God’s gifts by exercising our ability to give gifts of our own to others, doing good for them by forgiving them, being patient with them, assisting them in their need — the whole range of corporal and spiritual works of mercy.  Thus, if we show mercy to others in some way, we extend our capacity for receiving God’s mercy and, even so, it will abound more than we can contain it.  “To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”  This saying refers to faith, returning to the theme of the parable Jesus has just told.  A person who has faith and prays to be strong in it and who exercises it in daily life will grow in faith.  He will have “more” faith.  But one who has faith but who do not pray for be strong in it and who do not exercise it in daily life will lose it due to tribulations of some kind, to persecution, or to his own lust, worldly ambitions, or greed.

We ask Saint Timothy and Saint Titus to pray for us so that we may be bright shining lights in our time as they were in theirs, leading all to God.