From: 1 Timothy 3:1-13
Qualifications for Bishops
[1] The saying is sure: If any one aspires to the office of bishop, he
desires a noble task. [2] Now a bishop must be above reproach, the
husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, dignified, hospitable, an apt
teacher, [3] no drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and
no lover of money. [4] He must manage his own household well, keeping
children submissive and respectful in every way; [5] for if a man does
not know how to manage his own household, how can he care for God's
church? [6] He must not be a recent convert, or he may be puffed up
with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil; [7] moreover
he must be well thought of by outsiders, or he may fall into reproach
and the snare of the devil.
Qualifications for Deacons
[8] Deacons likewise must be serious, not double-tongued, not addicted
to much wine, not greedy for gain; [9] they must hold the mystery of
the faith with a clear conscience. [10] And let them also be tested
first; then if they prove blameless let them serve as deacons. [11] The
women likewise must be serious, no slanderers, but temperate, faithful
in all things. [12] Let deacons be the husband of one wife, and let
them manage their children and their households well; [13] for those
who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also
great confidence in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Commentary:
1. "The office of bishop": as explained in the "Introduction to the
Pastoral Epistles", above, when these epistles were written the titles
and responsibilities of the various church offices had not yet become
fixed. The "bishop" (in Greek "episcopos" =3D overseer) was a priest who
was in charge of some particular community. As a minister of the
Church, his role was one of teaching (cf. v. 2) and governance (cf.
v.5); his task was a demanding one and called for self-sacrifice,
because any office in a Christian community is essentially a form of
service: "The holders of office, who are invested with a sacred power,
are, in fact, dedicated to promoting the interests of their brethren,
so that all who belong to the people of God, and are consequently
endowed with true Christian dignity, may, through their free and
well-ordered efforts towards a common goal, attain to salvation"
(Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 18).
In spite of the regard in which those "bishops" were held by the
faithful, there seems to have been a shortage of candidates for the
office. Hence St Paul's stressing that it is a "noble task"--to
encourage a generous response by those who feel the Lord's call. From
the very beginning, both pastors of the Church and many other members
of the faithful have striven to nurture the germs of vocation which God
places in people's souls. "Beyond question, the society founded by
Christ will never lack priests. But we must all be vigilant and do our
part, remembering the word: 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers
are few' (Lk 10:2). We must do all that we can to secure as many holy
ministers of God as possible" (Pius XII, "Menti Nostrae", 36).
2-7. The quality and virtues required for a "bishop" are similar to
those for "elders" given in Titus 1:5-9. In the Pastoral Epistles
"bishop" and "elder" (or priest) mean almost the same thing. In listing
qualifications St Paul is not giving a complete list; he is simply
saying that candidates for Church office should have qualities which
make them suited to the work and should be morally irreproachable.
The Church, in its legislation, has always tried to see that suitable
people are chosen as ministers. The Second Vatican Council lays it down
that before the priesthood is conferred on anyone careful inquiry
should be made "concerning his right intention and freedom of choice,
his spiritual, moral and intellectual fitness etc." ("Optatam Totius",
6). In other words, a person needs qualifications in the form of human
qualities and ability if he is to live up to the demands of Church
office.
"This need for the secular priest to develop human virtues stems from
the nature of his apostolic ministry which must be carried out in the
everyday world and in direct contact with people who tend to be stern
judges of a priest and who watch particularly his behavior as a man.
There is nothing new about all this--but it does seem useful now to
emphasize it again. From St Paul to the most recent doctors of the
Church (take the teaching of St Francis de Sales, for example) one
finds this question dealt with. It is none other than that of the
contact between nature and supernature to achieve both the death of
that man which must die under the sign of the Cross, and the perfect
development of all the nobility and virtue which exists in man, and its
direction towards the service of God" (A. del Portillo, "On
Priesthood", p. 12).
2. "The husband of one wife": this is also a requirement of "elders"
(cf. Tit 1:6) and "deacons" (1 Tim 3:12); it does not mean that the
person is under an obligation to marry, but he must not have married
more than once. From the context it clearly does not mean that
candidates are forbidden to be polygamous (polygamy is forbidden to
everyone); the condition that one be married only once ensures that
candidates will be very respectable, exemplary people; in the culture
of the time second marriages, except in special circumstances, were
looked at askance, among Gentiles as well as Jews.
In the apostolic age celibacy was not a requirement for those who
presided over the early Christian communities. However, it very soon
became customary to require celibacy. "In Christian antiquity the
Fathers and ecclesiastical writers testify to the spread through the
East and the West of the voluntary practice of celibacy by sacred
ministers because of its profound suitability for their total
dedication to the service of Christ and his Church. The Church of the
West, from the beginning of the fourth century, strengthened, spread,
and approved this practice by means of various provincial councils and
through the Supreme Pontiffs" (Paul VI, "Sacerdotalis Caelibatus",
35-36).
From then on all priests of the Latin rite were required to be
celibate. Celibacy is appropriate to the priesthood for many reasons:
"By preserving virginity or celibacy for the sake of the kingdom of
heaven priests are consecrated in a new and excellent way to Christ.
They more readily cling to him with undivided heart and dedicate
themselves more freely in him and through him to the service of God and
of men. They are less encumbered in their service of his kingdom and of
the task of heavenly regeneration. In this way they become better
fitted for a broader acceptance of fatherhood in Christ" (Vatican II,
"Presbyterorum Ordinis", 16).
6. "He must not be a recent convert": one of the functions of the
"bishop" was to preside over the community; therefore, it would be
imprudent to expose the office-holder to the danger of vanity and
pride. As St Thomas says in his commentary, it is not wise to appoint
young people and recent converts to positions of honor and
responsibility, because they can easily begin to think that they are
better than the others and cannot be done without (cf. "Commentary on
l Tim, ad loc.").
"Fall into the condemnation of the devil" or "fall into the same
condemnation as the devil": the original text is not very clear. It may
mean that it is the devil who is doing the condemning, in which case it
would be the same as saying "fall into the power of the devil" or "fall
into enslavement by the devil". At any rate it is fairly clear that St
Paul wants to warn about the danger of committing the same sin as the
fallen angel, that is, becoming proud and thereby earning damnation.
7. Another function of the "bishop" was to represent the Church to
"outsiders", that is, non-Christians. All believers should give good
example (cf. Mt 5:16; Col 4:5; 1 Pet 2:13; 3:1), but those who hold
Church office have a special duty to avoid giving scandal or providing
grounds for gossip.
8-13. Deacons were ministers under bishops and priests. "The origin of
the diaconate probably goes back to the "seven men of good repute" who
were elected to help the Apostles (cf. Acts 6:1-6 and note); we do know
that those men had an administrative role in aiding the poor and the
sick (Acts 6:1); they also preached (Acts 6:8-14; 8:6) and administered
Baptism (Acts 8:26-40). Later on mention is made of deacons alongside
"bishops" in certain important communities (cf. Phil 1:1), which
suggests that they were part of the Church hierarchy.
This letter shows them to be ministers subordinate to the "bishop"; in
these verses, which some commentators call "the deacons' statute",
their specific functions are not stated (they probably performed a wide
range of tasks); however, it does appear that, unlike the bishop, they
did not represent the Church to outsiders and they could be drawn from
among recent converts
The requirements given here are very like those for the "bishop": as
ministers of the Church they would naturally be required to live
exemplary lives. The Second Vatican Council is in line with this text
when it says that deacons, "waiting upon the mysteries of Christ and of
the Church, should keep themselves free from every vice, should please
God and give a good example to all in everything" ("Lumen Gentium",
41).
10. "Let them also be tested first": it is up to bishops (then and
now) to ensure that holy orders are conferred on suitable candidates;
probably even in St Paul's time candidates had to undergo a period of
training, in the course of which their suitability could be checked.
The Church always tries to see that only people who are really suitable
are given Church office, even if that means fewer people are ordained,
for "God never so abandons his Church that suitable ministers are not
to be found sufficient for the needs of the people; provided the worthy
are promoted and the unworthy are set aside" ("Summa Theologiae",
Supplement, q. 36, a. 4 ad 1).
11. The text says so little that it is difficult to work out who these
women were. Many authors, St Thomas among them, think that they were
deacons' wives because the reference to them interrupts the list of
qualifications for deacons. Many other commentators think that they
were women who performed some function or ministry in the early Church;
this would explain why nothing is said about the wife of the bishop
(when the qualifications for bishops are given at the start of this
chapter) and it would also explain why the comportment of the deacons
and of these women is referred to using the same adverb--"likewise",
similarly--in v. 8 and v. 11. We do know (from a fourth-century
document, "Apostolic Constitutions", 2, 26; 3, 15) that some women did
help in the instruction of catechumens, in their Baptism, in care of
the sick, etc. In the Letter to the Romans, Phoebe is described as a
"deaconess" (cf. Rom 16:1) though she was not a sacred minister in the
strict sense.
13. "Gain a good standing for themselves": this may mean that being a
deacon could be a step towards the higher office of "bishop"; or it
could mean that the diaconate itself is a noble position, just as the
office of "bishop" is "a noble task" (v. 1). Perhaps St Paul uses this
vague expression because it covers both these things: it is an
honorable ministry and also it can be a step to a higher position in
the service of the community.
"Great confidence": the original text uses a word which, in classical
Greek refers to the right of free citizens to speak at public
assemblies--with full freedom, confident, afraid of no one, with
self-assurance, etc. A good deacon should expound the doctrine of the
faith in the same kind of way: he should be well versed in it, he
should stress those aspects which are most apposite at the time, and he
should not be affected by what others may think of him.
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.
Please pray for the soul of Ed my Father in Law who died on the 9th.Funeral is this Thursday
