Fan the Flame of Faith

The liturgy today places us alongside two young bishops, Timothy and Titus, and returns us to a charged moment in the Gospel when Jesus is accused of serving evil even as he demolishes evil’s hold. Together, these texts ask whether we will be formed by fear or by the Spirit; whether we will see with suspicion or with faith; whether we will keep our gifts hidden or fan them into flame.

Timothy and Titus: Sons, Stewards, Shepherds

Timothy and Titus are not extraordinary because they were flawless but because they were faithful. Timothy, the son of a Jewish believer and a Greek father, received a living faith from his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. Titus, a Gentile convert, became a trusted peacemaker and organizer. Paul calls both of them his true children; language of family, mentorship, and mutual belonging. Early Christianity spread not through disembodied ideas but through relationships: an older apostle entrusting the Gospel to younger hearts who would shepherd real communities with real problems.

This feast arrives the day after the Church recalls Paul’s conversion. If Paul models the shock of grace, Timothy and Titus model its slow, steady stewardship. Paul charges Timothy to keep rekindling the gift given by the laying on of hands. He commissions Titus to “set right what remains to be done” and to appoint elders. They inherit not merely tasks, but people; not merely doctrines, but the care of souls. Their holiness is profoundly practical.

In a fragmented age marked by loneliness and distrust, their witness matters. Faith still travels along lines of love; grandparents to grandchildren, mentors to apprentices, friends to friends. The Church needs spiritual mothers and fathers who carry others in prayer, who teach the young to pray, who train hearts in courage, love, and self-discipline. The world is hungry for that kind of ordinary, patient heroism.

Fan into Flame: Courage, Love, and Self-Control

Paul’s counsel to Timothy pierces through time: God has not given us a timid spirit, but one of power, love, and self-control. Many today live with a low-grade spiritual exhaustion; overwhelmed by headlines, numbed by constant comparison, hesitant to speak of Christ lest it sound naïve or divisive. But the Spirit poured out in us is not a mood; it is God’s own life igniting our gifts.

Power without love becomes aggression. Love without self-mastery dissolves into sentiment. Self-control without power and love hardens into stoicism. The Spirit forms these together. Courage looks like telling the truth without contempt. Love looks like costly attention to the person in front of us. Self-control looks like reordering desires so that worship, vocation, and service take precedence over noise.

To “stir into flame” is not to manufacture heat; it is to remove what smothers it. What dampens the embers in your life; resentment, distraction, secret compromise, the fear of being misunderstood? Naming these honestly before God is the beginning of renewal.

A House Not Divided: Discernment in an Age of Accusation

In the Gospel, some accuse Jesus of casting out demons by demonic power. He responds with fierce clarity: a divided kingdom collapses. Evil does not dethrone evil. What is really happening is that the Stronger One has entered the strong man’s house, bound him, and is freeing captives. The victory of God is not a clever rebrand of darkness; it is its undoing.

Our time is saturated with suspicion. Motives are impugned, good is re-labeled as harmful, and cynicism masquerades as sophistication. But a discerning Christian is not simply a skeptical one. Discernment recognizes the fruit: liberation, integrity, peace, and the restoration of persons to worship and communion. Where Christ reigns, idols are dethroned and human beings are made whole.

“House divided” also names an interior battle. Many live split lives: professing faith yet nurturing habits that quietly sabotage it; longing for holiness while negotiating with pet sins. Jesus does not shame us for this fracture; he intends to heal it. But healing requires consent. We cannot ask him to set us free while we padlock the rooms we prefer he not enter.

The Unforgivable Sin: What It Is; and Isn’t

Jesus warns of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, calling it an everlasting sin. This line troubles many consciences. The Church has long taught that the “unforgivable” sin is not a one-off word spoken in panic; it is the hardened, persistent refusal to recognize and receive the Spirit’s testimony to Christ; to call God’s light darkness and to lock oneself against mercy. What cannot be forgiven is what we will not let God forgive.

If you fear you have committed this sin, that very fear is evidence you have not. The desire for mercy is already the Spirit at work. The path forward is beautifully ordinary: contrition, confession, and concrete conversion. The Spirit does not humiliate; he convicts and then accompanies.

Proclaim to the Nations: Ordinary Mission in Daily Life

Psalm 96 sings, “Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.” Evangelization is not a marketing campaign; it is the overflow of a life reordered by praise. People do not first need our winning arguments; they need to encounter a credible witness: someone who forgives, serves, and tells the truth with a quiet joy that cannot be faked.

Timothy and Titus proclaimed not only from pulpits but in living rooms, workshops, council meetings, and sickrooms. So can we:

• In the workplace, by refusing corrosive gossip and practicing transparent integrity.
• Online, by resisting contempt and speaking with clarity minus cruelty.
• In family life, by praying aloud together, blessing meals, asking forgiveness promptly, and keeping Sunday for worship and rest.
• In parishes and neighborhoods, by mentoring one younger person in the faith and seeking one older mentor in return.

Practicing the Readings This Week

• Rekindle: Name one gift God has entrusted to you that has cooled. Set a simple rule to tend it; ten minutes of Scripture each morning, one weekly hour of service, or a monthly fast offered for a difficult relationship.
• Reconcile: Identify one division within; habit, resentment, or duplicity; and bring it to Confession. Ask explicitly for the Spirit’s power, love, and self-control over that area.
• Remember: Like Lois and Eunice, pass on living faith. Call or visit a family member to pray together, however briefly. If you live alone, adopt a “spiritual grandchild” by praying daily for a younger person by name.
• Resist Cynicism: When confronted with good news, practice rejoicing instead of hedging. When hearing a claim about someone, refuse to draw conclusions without charity and facts.
• Rejoice Publicly: Once this week, speak simply about what Jesus has done for you. Not a speech; just one honest sentence.

Timothy and Titus stood in the long line of those who receive faith as a gift and carry it forward as a responsibility. In a world suspicious of trust and weary of promises, their lives whisper a countercultural truth: God keeps his promises, and the Spirit he gives is not timid. Christ has entered the strong man’s house; the captives are being freed. Fan the flame. Refuse the fracture. Proclaim his marvelous deeds; starting right where you are.