Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
For: Saturday, January 26, 2008
2nd Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial: St Timothy and St Titus, Bishops
From: Titus 1:1-5
Greeting
-------------
[1] Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith
of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness,
[2] in hope of eternal life which God, who never lies, promised ages ago [3]
and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with
which I have been entrusted by command of God our Savior; [4] To Titus,
my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and
Christ Jesus our Savior.
[5] This is why I left you in Crete, that you might amend what was defective,
and appoint elders in every town as I directed you,
****************************************************************************************
Commentary:
1-4. The heading is particularly long and formal. It contains, as usual (cf.
Rom 1:1-2; 1 Cor 1:13; etc.), the sender's name--Paul; the addressee's
--Titus; and the greeting--"Grace and peace". In this case, however, Paul's
title (Apostle), and the prerogatives of his authority and his God-given man-
date to preach are given special emphasis (v. 3). This has led some
scholars to argue that the epistle was in fact written by a disciple of St
Paul--who would have put in all this about the Apostle's authority in order
to give the letter more weight. However, it is more reasonable to suppose
that when St Paul was writing the letter he had Titus very much in mind
and also the community in Crete, whom false teachers were beginning to
unsettle; the solemn, official tone would be due to the serious nature of
their doctrinal aberrations and to the need to ensure that the church in Crete
was property organized.
These introductory verses provide a very succinct definition of the mission of
an Apostle: it derives from God himself, the Savior of all (vv. 1, 3); the Apostle
has a mandate from God, he is God's representative (v. 3); the purpose of his
mission is to communicate the word of God, which is true, which "accord with
godliness" and leads to eternal life (v. 2). His letter is addressed to the belie-
vers, who had been endowed with faith (v. 1) and whom he has to lead to
heaven (v. 2).
1. "Servant of God": in the language of the Bible, serving God means
rendering him the worship that is his due. While keeping this basic meaning,
"servant of God" means one who fulfills the task his Lord gives him. Like the
Old Testament prophets (who were conscious ofhaving a sacred mission,
which they could not avoid: cf. Amos 3:7; Jer 7:25), St Paul knows that he
has a God-given mission which he has a duty to perform.
"To further the faith of God's elect": God sends his apostles to instruct people
in the faith so that they know the truth that saves and view their lives and the
world from a supernatural vantage-point. As the Church's Magisterium has
reminded us, evangelization begins by teaching the essential revealed truths:
"It is not superfluous to recall the following points: to evangelize is first of all
to bear witness, in a simple and direct way, to God revealed by Jesus Christ,
in the Holy Spirit; to bear witness that in his Son God has loved the world--
that in his Incarnate Word he has given being to all things and has called
men to eternal life" (Paul VI, "Evangelii Nuntiandi", 26).
"The truth that accords with godliness": The virtue of godliness or "piety"
includes, particularly, openness to God, docility to his commandments and
recognition of his divinity--in a word, religion. Godliness and truth are very
closely connected: to acquire a solid, well-grounded piety one needs to have
a good grasp of the truth. St Teresa of Avila explains this in her inimitable
way: "I should prefer spirituality to be unaccompanied by prayer than not to
be founded upon the truth. Learning is a great thing, for it instructs those of
us who have little knowledge, and enlightens us, so that when we are faced
with the truth of Holy Scripture, we act as we should. From foolish devotions
may God deliver us!" ("Life", 13, 16).
2. In doing the work given him, the Apostle always keeps before his eyes
the "hope of eternal life"; this determines the content and purpose of his prea-
ching--eternal beatitude for himself and for all who accept the word of God,
the attainment of the indescribable joy which is God's re- ward to those who
love him: "What words can describe what is to come -- the pleasure, the good
fortune, the joy of being with Christ? It is impossible to explain the blessed-
ness and the advantage the soul has when it is returned to its noble self and
can from then on contemplate its Lord. And it is not only that he enjoys good
things to and: his joy is permanent because these good things will never
cease to be his" (St John Chrysostom, "Ad Theod. Lapsum", 1, 13).
"In hope of eternal life": hope of eternal life should imbue our devout life, and
it should also inspire the truth we teach, the faith we profess and the apos-
tolic ministry itself.
Promised "ages ago": this ambiguous Semitic expression (it can also be
translated as "from all eternity") refers to God's promise of salvation made
in ancient times to the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament; but
it refers mainly to God's eternal plan: from all eternity God decided to save
men. This decision of his is the basis of the theological virtue of hope; we
place our hope in God "who never lies", who cannot deceive or be deceived.
3-4. "At the proper time": salvation (God's plan for all eternity, communicated
in a veiled way to the prophets) has been manifested in the fullness of time
by the advent of the Son of God (cf. Heb 1:1); preaching concerns itself exclu-
sively with this message of salvation. The Apostle preaches "by command of
God our Savior", not on his personal initiative. It is worth pointing out that this
whole passage is very dense and very typical of Paul's style: lots of ideas are
crammed into very few words. The key factor is the divine plan of salvation;
but the way that plan is communicated is also important, as is the way it is
carried out; the word of God, in addition to making the plan of salvation known,
is itself salvific, it is an effective instrument of salvation. The Apostle is very
conscious that his mission is divine, for God keeps urging him on; he chose
him for this very purpose and granted him the title of "servant of God" (cf
v. 1).
On the meaning of the greeting "Grace and peace", see the note on 1 Tim
1:2 and Rom 1:7.
5. St Paul seems to have given Titus two jobs to do. One, which is implied
here, was to complete the catechetical instruction of the young community
in Crete; there is a lot of emphasis throughout the letter on firmness in the
truth, on counteracting false teachers, and on the need for all believers,
particularly pastors, to have a well-grounded faith.
************************************************************************************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." -- St Jerome
"The Father uttered one Word; that Word is His Son, and He utters Him forever
in everlasting silence: and in silence the soul has to hear it.
-- St John of the Cross
