Reading 1
1 Tm 1:1-2, 12-14
Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our savior
and of Christ Jesus our hope,
to Timothy, my true child in faith:
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord.
I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord,
because he considered me trustworthy
in appointing me to the ministry.
I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man,
but I have been mercifully treated
because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.
Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant,
along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Gospel
Lk 6:39-42
Jesus told his disciples a parable:
“Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit?
No disciple is superior to the teacher;
but when fully trained,
every disciple will be like his teacher.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?
You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.”
Meditation: 1 Timothy 1:1-2,12-14
I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man. (1 Timothy 1:13).
What a graphic, but accurate, picture this passage paints of St. Paul before his conversion! He supported and even enabled the execution of the deacon Stephen (Acts 8:1). He “persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it” (Galatians 1:13). He occupied himself with “murderous threats” against the first Christians and actively sought their arrest (Acts 9:1-2). As the early church continued to grow, Paul became more and more filled with anger and violence against a faction that seemed to threaten the faith he served.
The fact is, in any age, in any culture, ancient prejudices can poison people’s view of those who have different convictions and who act and believe differently. Human passion, ignited by fear or hatred, flares into violence and bloodshed. And people die—in first-century Palestine, in twenty-first-century England, Spain, Iran, Bali, America. And all the while, Jesus weeps.
God alone is sufficiently wise to extinguish the flaming hatred that blazes around the world. So pray! Pray that people will be moved to seek God’s wisdom for restoring peace. Pray that faithful men and women will rise up, wherever terrorism rages, to know and act according to his wisdom. Pray for all whose lives are filled with anger, hatred, terror, and violence. Pray for their healing and deliverance. Pray that they will come into a living relationship with the God who loves them. Pray that they will be set free to receive his mercy, just as Paul did.
For many of us, violence and terror are but distant threats. We should ask, then, that God show us how he can use us as servants of peace at home. We all know someone who is filled with anger, someone whose life is brittle with hatred or prejudice. Ask the Lord how you can speak a word—perhaps of forgiveness or comfort, of understanding or simple kindness—into their life. Pray for patience, forbearance, and fortitude in difficult relationships. Let September 11th become a day on which we all extend God’s love and grace and mercy to others!
“Father, let a tidal wave of your love wash over the earth today. Show me how to share that love in everything I do today.”
Psalm 16:1-2,5,7-8,11; Luke 6:43-49
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