Consecrated in Truth
“But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it.” (2 Timothy 3: 14)
Paul held Timothy close to his heart. They traveled together on missionary journeys. Both endured hardship and were jailed. Like Paul, Timothy is said to have been martyred. Close to execution, Paul sent for Timothy to say farewell. Leaving Ephesus, Paul foretells persecution that is imminent. The wolves, he warns, are among you.
Today we celebrate St. Boniface, a martyr. Martyrs occupy a special place in the company of saints. They are the A-team; like Martin L. King, they walked the walk and stood fast in the face of danger. The early Church Father Tertullian famously wrote, “the blood of martyrs is seed.” Hearts are moved more surely by deeds than by preaching. I recall a Catholic church in Ocean City, New Jersey, with stained glass windows depicting martyrs. Bodies were pierced by arrows; chains bound captives, their limbs torn; a victim roped to a cross. Here are the faces of those who stood fast. Is Paul speaking to me? Could I ever walk that walk? What can Paul’s words mean for us?
Persecution is a harsh reality. Those who were bullied in school get this pain. Mostly we dodge thoughts of deliberately inflicting harm. Paul consoles us: “Yet from all these things the Lord delivered me.” What lies before us is unknown. What we do know is that we do not face trouble alone. God dwells within us through good times and bad. God is with me.
What gets us closer to the reality is to consider those whom we persecute. How do good-hearted folks like us persecute? Pope Francis points to the indifference that numbs us to the plight of others. Some poor countries welcome refugees. Our rich country has slammed the door on refugees, who are stuck in camps waiting for years. The harm inflicted in my name barely registers.
Victim or perpetrator, no one is abandoned. Jesus left us the word. Paul reminds the community to study scripture to find protection from those lurking in the shadows. Those “consecrated in truth” by Jesus can recognize what is twisted. In today’s gospel, Jesus rebuts the scribes, who question his identity, with a passage from the Psalms.
Let us love this world as those consecrated in truth.
Jeanne Schuler
We live in the city near the university with our three children, so work and family form almost a whole…but not a seamless whole. Family, faith, work, old neighborhoods, leftist (leftover) politics, and enough community are my measures of reality. Also, a good dog named Sid.
Scripture has depths missing from other forms of wisdom. This is closer to the ground we walk on.
