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From: 1 Timothy 1:1-2; 12-14

Greeting

[1] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and
of Christ Jesus our hope,

[2] To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace
from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul Recalls His Own Conversion

[12] I thank him who has given me strength for this, Christ Jesus our
Lord, because he judged me faithful by appointing me to his service,
[13] though I formerly blasphemed and persecuted and insulted him; but
I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, [14] and
the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that
are in Christ Jesus.

Commentary:

1-2. The heading is the standard heading used in correspondence at the
time--the names of the sender and addressee, and some words of greeting
(cf. note on 1 Cor 1).

"Apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God": the word can be translated
as "command", "order", "disposition"; whichever is used, the expression
is stronger than that used in other letters--"by the will of God"
(1 Cor 1:1; 2 Cor 1:1; Eph 1:1; etc.)--and it shows that St Paul
holds authority from God (he wants to underline this because he has
things to say in the letter about how the church at Ephesus should be
organized).

"God our Savior": in other letters the Apostle seldom uses this
title, "Savior", and when he does he applies it to Jesus (Eph 5:23;
Phil 3:20). In the Pastoral Epistles it occurs often and is used of
Jesus (cf. 2 Tim 1:10; Tit 3:6) and especially of God the Father (cf.
1 Tim 2:3; 4:10; Tit 2:10; 3:4). In the Greco-Roman world it was
quite common to describe people as saviors; for example, we find the
word (applied to emperors and pagan gods) in stone inscriptions. St
Paul, however, uses it in a restrictive sense; reviving a very
typical Old Testament teaching (cf. Deut 32:15; 1 Sam 10:19; etc.),
he teaches that God is our only Savior. Reflecting on this, St John
Chrysostom comments: "We suffer many evils, but we harbor great
hopes; we are exposed to dangers and snares, but we have a Savior,
who is not just man, but God. Strength will never fail our Savior,
for he is God; no matter how great the dangers, we will overcome
them" ("Hom. on I Tim, ad loc.").

"Timothy, my true son in the faith": when St Paul wrote to the
Philippians he praised Timothy's proven worth: "you know how as a son
with a father he has served with me in the gospel" (Phil 2:22). Now,
in this letter to his co-worker, he highlights Timothy's fidelity to
Christian truth, in contrast to the behavior of self-appointed
teachers who refuse to obey authority (cf. Heb 12:8).

"Grace, mercy and peace": a wish for "mercy" is added to the by now
traditional wish for "grace and peace" (cf. note on Rom 1:7); perhaps
this is meant to be an allusion to "the salvation accomplished by the
Lord and his mercy" (John Paul II, "Dives in Misericordiae", 4), for
in the language of the Bible asking for mercy is the same as asking
for salvation: "Show us thy steadfast love [= mercy], O Lord, and
grant us thy salvation" (Ps 85:7).

12-13. This clearly autobiographical passage, which shows the
Apostle's humility (cf., e.g., 1 Cor 15:9-10), is evidence of the
letter's Pauline authorship: it is difficult to believe that a later
disciple would have dared to call St Paul a "blasphemer",
"persecutor" or "insulter" or made him describe himself as "the
foremost of sinners".

St Paul's conversion is an example of a miracle of grace; only by the
mercy of God could he have been changed and become the Apostle of the
Gentiles and such a faithful minister of the Gospel. This change
which grace worked in Paul can also help all who approach the Church
to have great confidence in God's mercy and forgiveness; like a good
father, God is always ready to receive the repentant sinner.

The sacred text shows quite clearly that the initiative lies with God
when it comes to calling people to Church office. The call to the
priesthood is a grace from God; it is God who makes the choice and
then he gives the person he has chosen the strength to fulfill his
office worthily. In this connection Bishop Alvaro del Portillo has
written: "Christian priesthood is not, then, in the line of ethical
relationships among men nor on the level of a merely human attempt to
approach God: it is a gift from God and it is irreversibly located on
the vertical line of the search for man by his Creator and Sanctifier
and on the sacramental line of the gratuitous opening up to man of
God's intimate life. In other words, Christian priesthood is
essentially (this is the only possible way it can be understood) an
eminently sacred mission, both in its origin (Christ) and in its
content (the divine mystery) and by the very manner in which it is
conferred--a sacrament" ("On Priesthood", pp. 59f).

14. "In Christ Jesus": this expression is being used with a special
technical meaning: it refers to the position of the new man who,
after the "washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit"
(Tit 3:5) which takes place at Baptism, is now united to Christ, made
a Christian. At Baptism the mercy of God not only justifies the
sinner but causes him to share profoundly in God's own life by means
of grace, faith and love. These three gifts are a sign that the
Christian has truly been built into the body of Christ (cf. 2 Tim
1:13).

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: Luke 6:39-42

Integrity

[39] He (Jesus) told them a parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man?
Will they not both fall into a pit? [40] A disciple is not above his
teacher, but every one when he is fully taught will be like his
teacher. [41] Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye,
but do not notice the log that is in your eye? [42] Or how can you say
to your brother, `Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your
eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your eye? You
hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will
see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye."

Commentary:
[None for Luke 6:39-42. Below is a commentary on a similar theme from
Matthew 7:1-5:]

1. Jesus is condemning any rash judgments we make maliciously or
carelessly about our brothers' behavior or feelings or motives. "Think
badly and you will not be far wrong" is completely at odds with Jesus'
teaching.

In speaking of Christian charity St. Paul lists its main features:
"Love is patient and kind [...]. Love bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Corinthians 13:4, 5,
7). Therefore, "Never think badly of anyone, not even if the words or
conduct of the person in question give you good grounds for doing so"
([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 442).

"Let us be slow to judge.--Each one sees things from his own point of
view, as his mind, with all its limitations, tells him, and through
eyes that are often dimmed and clouded by passion" ("ibid"., 451).

1-2. As elsewhere, the verbs in the passive voice ("you will be
judged", "the measure you will be given") have God as their subject,
even though He is not explicitly mentioned: "Do not judge OTHERS, that
you be not judged BY GOD". Clearly the judgment referred to here is
always a condemnatory judgment; therefore, if we do not want to be
condemned by God, we should never condemn our neighbor. "God measures
out according as we measure out and forgives as we forgive, and comes
to our rescue with the same tenderness as He sees us having towards
others" (Fray Luis de Leon, "Exposicion Del Libro De Job", Chapter
29).

3-5. A person whose sight is distorted sees things as deformed, even
though in fact they are not deformed. St. Augustine gives this advice:
"Try to acquire those virtues which you think your brothers lack, and
you will no longer see their defects, because you will not have them
yourselves" ("Enarrationes In Psalmos", 30, 2, 7). In this connection,
the saying, "A thief thinks that everyone else is a thief" is in line
with this teaching of Jesus.

Besides: "To criticize, to destroy, is not difficult; any unskilled
laborer knows how to drive his pick into the noble and finely-hewn
stone of a cathedral. To construct: that is what requires the skill of
a master" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 456).