Feast of Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops.

Saints Timothy and Titus fanned into huge flame the gift of the Holy Spirit they received on their ordination.

“Jesus said to his disciples:
“Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lampstand?
For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light. Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.”

"He also told them, “Take care what you hear. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you.

"To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” (Mark 4: 21 - 25).

Thursday 26th January 2023 in the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of Saints Timothy and Titus. Bishops.
Timothy (+ 97). Jewish mother and a Greek father. He was ordained by St Paul as Bishop of Ephesus. He was a disciple of Paul and traveled with Paul in some of his missionary journeys.

Titus (+ 96 or 107). A native of the island of Crete. Ordained Bishop of Crete by St Paul. Both Timothy and Titus had very difficult churches to oversee in Ephesus and Crete respectively.

Brethren, let us consider the last paragraph of today's Gospel:
"To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

I know this teaching is absolutely true because I have experienced it personally in my life and as a catechist. The greatest gift of God to us is the Precious Holy Spirit. Once you activate the Gift in your life, you start to grow in all manner of ways in everything, everywhere, all at once. Beautiful experience.

What if you reject the Holy Spirit by a life of sin without any effort to reconcile with God through the Sacrament of Penance? You start shrinking in  the divine life within you. You will be like a dying 230 pound man who shrunk to about 80 pounds in his last weeks on earth.
The good news is that if you come back to your senses and seek God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, you recover your life.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com