More great exhortations from St. Paul to Timothy today in our first reading from 2 Timothy 4. All things that we should take to heart. In Mark 12 today, we see the story of the widow’s mite. Rich people come and donate large sums to the treasury, but Jesus is most impressed with a widow who gave just two small coins, because she gave “from her poverty.”
St. Paul begins his exhortations to Timothy with this: Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient. Have you ever run into those times where it is inconvenient to proclaim the word; to speak the truth? Perhaps the easier question to answer would be, have you had a time where it was convenient to proclaim the word! It seems that proclaiming the word is almost always inconvenient. We’re in the workplace and feel it necessary to keep it to ourselves. We don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings, so we sweep the truth aside.
Proclaiming the word can be VERY inconvenient. It takes courage, doesn’t it? But it is something that must be done. So the question is, if not you, who? If not now, when? If we only proclaim the word when it is convenient, then I daresay we will miss out on the majority of opportunities to help others grow closer to Christ. Do we really want that on our conscience?
Father, give us the grace to proclaim the word, whether it is convenient or inconvenient. Oh, and the grace to live out the word ourselves, too! Amen.
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