Grandparents

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appreciation, Bible, experience, grandparents, Lois, perspective, Roman Catholic, St. Ann, St. Joachim, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Timothy, tradtions, wisdom

Long ago when I was baptized the rule was that only saints’ names were acceptable for Roman Catholic babies. Because it was also understood that “the faithful” were to learn about the Bible from the clergy and not their own study (although we were to have a “family Bible” in our homes), not too many people were aware that Lois was mentioned by St. Paul in passing. Did you know she was the grandmother of Paul’s young companion, Timothy? Well, in 1948, Lois was a surprise name choice of my mother so my middle name became more important. It seems ironic now because the name my parents chose was Ann (not Anne, thank you very much!) whom legend says was the grandmother of Jesus, mother of his mother, Mary. So today, the feast of St. Ann (and her husband Joachim, a relatively recent addition to the Church calendar), seems to be about grandparents – mine and yours as well as those of Jesus and Timothy.

I know I have always been proud to carry the name attributed to the grandmother of Jesus and honor her, as tradition would have it, my “patron saint.” I found a lovely comment on http://www.americancatholic.org this morning that seems to fit this feast.  I offer it as a personal reflection for all of us and a reminder of our heritage and what we would hope to pass on to those who follow us in life.

This feast reminds grandparents of their responsibility to establish a tone for generations to come. They must make the traditions live and offer them as a promise to little children. But the feast has a message for the younger generation as well. It reminds the young that older peoples’ greater perspective, depth of experience and appreciation of life’s profound rhythms are all part of a wisdom not to be taken lightly or ignored.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got Humility?

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each of us is special, God, humility, Lois, Mark, mother. brothers, name, Paul, sister, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Timothy

The readings this morning make me smile. It isn’t everyone who gets their name in the Bible, you know. Today (2TM 1:1-8) as Paul is writing to his young disciple, Timothy, he says: “…I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother, Lois…” Hah! See me special! (my ego says). Then swiftly on the heels of that, I read the gospel (MK 3: 31-35) where Jesus is told that his mother and brothers have arrived and are asking for him. He says in reply, “Who are my mother and my brothers?…Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” So much for my special relationship based in my name. The irony of the lectionary pairing did make me smile, however, and reminded me that each of us is special in our own way to God. That’s a good thing to remember no matter who is in our presence at each moment. Our full attention is required for it is God who desires our time and consciousness and who calls our name as if we were the only person present in the universe. May the joy of that knowledge bless you this day!

Torch Bearers

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age and experience, Christian, disciples, Eunice, humanizing, Jew, Lois, mixed marriage, Paul, perspective, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Timothy, Titus, zeal for Christ

The names Timothy and Titus are known to some of us who read the letters of Paul in the Scriptures but I knew little about them except from cursory readings of Paul’s perspective. Today we honor them as saints. It would be easy to conclude that their sainthood came because of their commitment to keeping up with the indefatigable Paul for whom “globe-trotting” was an everyday event. It appears that Paul was very fond of both of these disciples of his and that he counted on them for support personally and for the mission of spreading the faith. In the one very short letter to Titus Paul speaks of him as “my true child in our common faith” and outlines the essential task he has given to Titus to complete: “For this reason I left you in Crete so that you might set right what remains to be done and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you.” (TI 1:5)

I learned a lot more this morning about Titus on the Franciscan website http://www.americancatholic.org where I also found a new detail of my affinity for Paul’s second letter to Timothy. When recalling his ancestors, Paul writes the following: “I yearn to see you again…as I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice…” (2 TM 1) It seems that Timothy was from a “mixed marriage” – his father being a Greek and his mother a Jew, which made him, in the eyes of the Jews, an illegitimate child. It was through the influence of his grandmother Lois, who first became a Christian, that Timothy was led to Paul and became one of his most trusted friends, sent on many difficult missions by Paul even at a young age.

His relationships with these men have had a humanizing effect on my image of Paul whose words in some of his letters can be off-putting in their directives to the communities who received them. This morning, seeing my name in print in the Scriptures, I remembered the first time I read it and how I was instantly more interested in what Paul was saying. That was in the days when I dismissed Paul because of his “anti-woman” reputation from some of his writings. Now, with the benefit of age and experience, I have come to appreciate the man, Paul, in the totality of his experience and personality. I think sometimes what it would be like to have even a fraction of his zeal for Christ and the gospel. And I am grateful to know that he had companions on the journey to share both the sufferings and the joy of it all.