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From: 2 Timothy 1:1-8

Greeting

[1] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the
promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus, [2] To Timothy, my beloved
child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Lord. [3] I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience, as did my
fathers, when I remember you constantly in my prayers. [4] As I remember
your tears, I long night and day to see you, that I may be filled with
joy. [5] I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in
your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells
in you.

Response to Grace

[6] Hence I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you
through the laying on of my hands; [7] God did not give us a spirit of
timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.

St Paul, Herald of the Gospel

[8] Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his
prisoner, but take your share of suffering for the gospel in the power of
God.

Commentary:

1-2. The greeting is like that of 1 Timothy, although now St Paul adds a
specific reference to the purpose of his God-given call to the
apostolate--"according to the promise of the life which is in Christ
Jesus". Christ fulfills all the promises of happiness given to Abraham
and the other Old Testament patriarchs. The purpose of the Gospel message
is to let men know that they have been called to enjoy a new life in
Christ, that is, the divine life whose germ we receive at Baptism. That
sacrament initiates the life of grace in the soul, and ultimately that
life will blossom into eternal life (cf. 1 Tim 1:16; 6:12; Tit 1:2; 3:9).

On the exact meaning of the _expression "in Christ Jesus", see the note on
1 Tim 1:14.

3. "I thank God": this is not a spontaneous _expression of gratitude but
rather a permanent disposition of Paul's soul.

St Paul makes the point that his attitude of service and worship is the
same as that of his ancestors, the righteous of the Old Testament, for
although the Gospel is something new it does not involve a break with the
earlier revelation; rather it brings that revelation to fulfillment. The
Apostle pays tribute to the chosen people, not hiding his satisfaction at
being a Jew himself (cf. Rom 9:3; 11:1; Gal 2:15). "The Church of Christ
acknowledges", Vatican II states, "that in God's plan of salvation the
beginning of her faith and election is to be found in the patriarchs,
Moses and the prophets [...]. The Church cannot forget that she received
the revelation of the Old Testament by way of that people with whom God
in his inexpressible mercy established the ancient covenant [...]. She is
mindful, moreover, that the Apostles, the pillars on which the Church
stands, were of Jewish descent, as were many of those early disciples who
proclaimed the Gospel of Christ to the world" ("Nostra Aetate", 4).

6. "The gift of God" is the priestly character which Timothy received on
the day of his ordination. St Paul is using very graphic and precise
language: by the sacrament of Order a divine gift is conferred on the
priest; it is like an ember which needs to be revived from time to time
in order to make it glow and give forth the warmth it contains. St Thomas
Aquinas comments that "the grace of God is like a fire. which does not
flow when it is covered by ashes; the same thing happens when grace is
covered over in a person by sluggishness or natural fear" ("Commentary on
2 Tim, ad loc.").

The gifts which God confers on the priest "are not transitory or
temporary in him, but stable and permanent, attached as they are to an
indelible character, impressed on his soul, by which he is made a priest
forever (cf. Ps 109:4), in the likeness of Him in whose priesthood he has
been made to share" (Pius XI, "Ad Catholici Sacerdotii", 17).

"The laying on of my hands": see the note on 1 Tim 4:14.

7. The gift of God, received in the sacrament of Order by the laying on
of hands, includes sanctifying grace and sacramental grace, and the
actual graces needed for performing ministerial functions in a worthy
manner. The Council of Trent uses this text (vv. 6-7) when it solemnly
defines that Priestly Order is a sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ
(cf. "De Sacram. Ordinis", chap. 3).

The minister, then, must be courageous in performing his office: he
should preach the truth unambiguously even if it clashes with the
surroundings; he should do so with love, and be open to everyone despite
their faults; with sobriety and moderation, always seeing the good of
souls, not his own advantage. Since the days of the Fathers the Church
has urged priests to develop these virtues: "Priests should be
compassionate", St Polycarp warns; "they should show mercy to all; they
should try to reclaim those who go astray, visit the sick, and care for
the poor, the orphan and the widow. They should be concerned always to do
what is honorable in the sight of God and men. They should avoid any show
of anger, any partiality or trace of greed. They should not be over-ready
to believe ill of anyone, not too severe in their censure, being well
aware that we all owe the debt of sin" ("Letter to the Philippians",
chap. 6).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: Mark 3:22-30

Allegations of the Scribes

[22] And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He (Jesus) is
possessed by Beelzebul, and by the prince of demons He casts out the
demons." [23] And He called them to Him, and said to them in parables,
"How can Satan cast out Satan? [24] If a kingdom is divided against
itself, that kingdom cannot stand. [25] And if a house is divided
against itself, that house will not be able to stand. [26] And if
Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but
is coming to an end. [27] But no one can enter a strong man's house
and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man; then
indeed he may plunder his house."

Sins Against the Holy Spirit

[28] "Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men,
and whatever blasphemies they utter; [29] but whoever blasphemes
against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an
eternal sin"--[30] for they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."

Commentary:

22-23. Even Jesus' miracles were misunderstood by these scribes, who
accuse Him of being a tool of the prince of devils, Beelzebul. This
name may be connected with Beelzebub (which spelling is given in some
codexes), the name of a god of the Philistine city of Eqron (Accaron),
which means "god of the flies." But it is more likely that the prince
of devils is called Beelzebul, which means "god of excrement":
"excrement" is the word Jews used to describe pagan sacrifices.
Whether Beelzebub or Beelzebul, in the last analysis it refers to him
to whom these sacrifices were offered, the devil (1 Corinthians
10:20). He is the same mysterious but real person whom Jesus calls
Satan, which means "the enemy", whose dominion over the world Christ
has come to wrest from him (1 Corinthians 15:24-28; Colossians 1:13f)
in an unceasing struggle (Matthew 4:1-10; John 16:11). These names
show us that the devil really exists: he is a real person who has at
his beck and call others of his kind (Mark 5:9).

24-27. Our Lord invites the Pharisees, who are blind and obstinate, to
think along these lines: if someone expels the devil this means he is
stronger than the devil: once more we are exhorted to recognize in
Jesus the God of strength, the God who uses His power to free man from
enslavement to the devil. Satan's dominion has come to an end: the
prince of this world is about to be cast out. Jesus' victory over the
power of darkness, which is completed by His death and resurrection,
shows that the light has already entered the world, as our Lord Himself
told us: "Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of
this world be cast out; and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will
draw all men to Myself" (John 12:31-32).

28-30. Jesus has just worked a miracle but the scribes refuse to
recognize it "for they had said `He has an unclean spirit'" (verse
30). They do not want to admit that God is the author of the miracle.
In this attitude lies the special gravity of blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit--attributing to the prince of evil, to Satan, the good works
performed by God Himself. Anyone acting in this way will become like
the sick person who has so lost confidence in the doctor that he
rejects him as if an enemy and regards as poison the medicine that can
save his life. That is why our Lord says that he who blasphemes
against the Holy Spirit will not forgiven: not because God cannot
forgive all sins, but because that person, in his blindness towards
God, rejects Jesus Christ, His teaching and His miracles, and despises
the graces of the Holy Spirit as if they were designed to trap him (cf.
"St. Pius V Catechism", II, 5, 19; St. Thomas Aquinas, "Summa
theologiae", II-II, q. 14, a. 3).