The opening lines of St. Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy reveal the context in which St. Paul is writing from the outset. He is in prison. Word has reached him that there are people who are using this fact to discredit his preaching. Listening to these words some two thousand years later does not convey the sense of shame or scorn that would have been so very real to the people who describe themselves as disciples of Paul. So Paul is worried that Timothy, one of his most important and influential followers, might be feeling the pressure of the shame and scorn that would accompany imprisonment in first century Middle Eastern culture.
Psalm 123 is used as a response to the reading today. If you listened carefully, you heard the word “eyes” used in each verse of this rather short psalm. That word is the lynch pin upon which the psalm relies. Notice that the psalm says nothing about the psalmist’s request of the Lord. It simply tells us that our eyes need to be trained on the Lord. That gesture alone will speak volumes about our most important relationship. Paul reminds Timothy that it was God who gave him the task of preaching the Gospel to the community. Though that gift came through the hands of St. Paul, Timothy should have his eyes trained on the Lord, not on Paul or Paul’s plight as he languishes in prison.
The same is true for all of us. Each of us comes from different circumstances and have led different lives. The path that each of us took to get where we find ourselves may cause us anxiety or fear or timidity. However, like Timothy, we have nothing to be ashamed of as long as our eyes are fixed on Jesus and our relationship with God.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator