1Timothy 6:11
"But you, man of God, avoid all this. Instead, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness."
In our first reading today, the letter to St. Timothy has some challenging words for us. At the beginning of the reading, we basically are told that anyone who claims to follow Christ but teaches something different is conceited, arrogant, envious, and so on. This might appear excessively harsh to some of us, but what the author wants to get at is the mark of an authentic faith. Someone who really loves the Lord and believes what he teaches us will attract people to the Church.
In our society today, rife with division and conflict, gossip and rumors, yes even in the Catholic Church, might we be called to heed these words? Instead of stirring up arguments and dissent among our family members, classmates, and co-workers, could we maybe respond with an attitude of generosity and kindness? Our reason for doing this isn't just so we can make ourselves look better. No, this is necessary because we are called to imitate him who died for us, Jesus Christ. Jesus calls to us to follow him not with bitterness and hatred, but with love, patience, and gentleness.
Get to know our seminarians! Today's reflection was written by:
Zachary Brasseur, Pastoral Year
Home parish: St. Paul's, St. Petersburg
Did you know:
Before entering seminary Zachary earned a degree in history from Saint Leo University. He first wanted to become a priest because of the many joyful and holy priests that he had come to know. Zachary is on his pastoral year at St. Timothy parish in Lutz.
Pray with us for the men and women discerning the priesthood and religious life. To pray for our seminarians by name or to find out more about the Diocese of St. Petersburg vocations office, click here.
