From: Titus 1:1-9
Greeting
[5] This is why I left you in Crete, that you might amend what was defective, and
appoint elders in every town as I directed you, [6] if any man is blameless, the
husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge
of being profligate or insubordinate. [7] For a bishop, as God’s steward, must be
blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or
greedy for gain, [8] but hospitable, a lover of goodness, master of himself, upright,
holy, and self-controlled; [9] he must hold firm to the sure word as taught, so that
he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to confute those
who contradict it.
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Commentary:
1-4. The heading is particularly long and formal. It contains, as usual (cf. Rom
1:1-2; 1 Cor 1:13; etc.), the sender’s name — Paul; the addressee’s — Titus; and
the greeting — “Grace and peace”. In this case, however, Paul’s title (Apostle),
and the prerogatives of his authority and his God-given mandate to preach are
given special emphasis (v. 3). This has led some scholars to argue that the epis-
tle was in fact written by a disciple of St Paul — who would have put in all this
about the Apostle’s authority in order to give the letter more weight. However, it
is more reasonable to suppose that when St Paul was writing the letter he had
Titus very much in mind and also the community in Crete, whom false teachers
were beginning to unsettle; the solemn, official tone would be due to the serious
nature of their doctrinal aberrations and to the need to ensure that the church in
Crete was property organized.
These introductory verses provide a very succinct definition of the mission of an
Apostle: it derives from God himself, the Savior of all (vv. 1, 3); the Apostle has
a mandate from God, he is God’s representative (v. 3); the purpose of his mission
is to communicate the word of God, which is true, which “accord with godliness”
and leads to eternal life (v. 2). His letter is addressed to the believers, who had
been endowed with faith (v. 1) and whom he has to lead to heaven (v. 2).
“Servant of God”: in the language of the Bible, serving God means rendering him
the worship that is his due. While keeping this basic meaning, “servant of God”
means one who fulfills the task his Lord gives him. Like the Old Testament pro-
phets (who were conscious of having a sacred mission, which they could not
avoid: cf. Amos 3:7; Jer 7:25), St Paul knows that he has a God-given mission
which he has a duty to perform.
“To further the faith of God’s elect”: God sends his apostles to instruct people in
the faith so that they know the truth that saves and view their lives and the world
from a supernatural vantage-point. As the Church’s Magisterium has reminded us,
evangelization begins by teaching the essential revealed truths: “It is not superflu-
ous to recall the following points: to evangelize is first of all to bear witness, in a
simple and direct way, to God revealed by Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit; to bear
witness that in his Son God has loved the world — that in his Incarnate Word he
has given being to all things and has called men to eternal life” (Paul VI, “Evan-
gelii Nuntiandi”, 26).
“The truth that accords with godliness”: The virtue of godliness or “piety” includes,
particularly, openness to God, docility to his commandments and recognition of
his divinity — in a word, religion. Godliness and truth are very closely connected:
to acquire a solid, well-grounded piety one needs to have a good grasp of the truth.
St Teresa of Avila explains this in her inimitable way: “I should prefer spirituality to
be unaccompanied by prayer than not to be founded upon the truth. Learning is a
great thing, for it instructs those of us who have little knowledge, and enlightens
us, so that when we are faced with the truth of Holy Scripture, we act as we
should. From foolish devotions may God deliver us!” (”Life”, 13, 16).
2. In doing the work given him, the Apostle always keeps before his eyes the
“hope of eternal life”; this determines the content and purpose of his preaching
— eternal beatitude for himself and for all who accept the word of God, the attain-
ment of the indescribable joy which is God’s reward to those who love him: “What
words can describe what is to come — the pleasure, the good fortune, the joy of
being with Christ? It is impossible to explain the blessedness and the advantage
the soul has when it is returned to its noble self and can from then on contem-
plate its Lord. And it is not only that he enjoys good things to hand: his joy is
permanent because these good things will never cease to be his” (St John Chry-
sostom, “Ad Theod. Lapsum”, 1, 13).
“In hope of eternal life”: hope of eternal life should imbue our devout life, and it
should also inspire the truth we teach, the faith we profess and the apostolic
ministry itself.
Promised “ages ago”: this ambiguous Semitic expression (it can also be trans-
lated as “from all eternity”) refers to God’s promise of salvation made in ancient
times to the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament; but it refers mainly
to God’s eternal plan: from all eternity God decided to save men. This decision
of his is the basis of the theological virtue of hope; we place our hope in God
“who never lies”, who cannot deceive or be deceived.
3-4. “At the proper time”: salvation (God’s plan for all eternity, communicated in
a veiled way to the prophets) has been manifested in the fullness of time by the
advent of the Son of God (cf. Heb 1:1); preaching concerns itself exclusively with
this message of salvation. The Apostle preaches “by command of God our Sa-
vior”, not on his personal initiative. It is worth pointing out that this whole passage
is very dense and very typical of Paul’s style: lots of ideas are crammed into very
few words. The key factor is the divine plan of salvation; but the way that plan is
communicated is also important, as is the way it is carried out; the word of God,
in addition to making the plan of salvation known, is itself salvific, it is an effective
instrument of salvation. The Apostle is very conscious that his mission is divine,
for God keeps urging him on; he chose him for this very purpose and granted him
the title of “servant of God” (cf v. 1).
On the meaning of the greeting “Grace and peace”, see the note on 1 Tim 1:2
and Rom 1:7.
5-9. The qualities of Church pastors described here agree with those recommen-
ded in the First Letter to Timothy (cf. 1 Tim 3:2-7 and note). In neither instance
is St Paul trying to give a complete list; he is simply urging that ministers be a
model for their flock. Emphasis is laid on four aspects which seem to be particu-
larly important: a minister should be of irreproachable conduct (vv. 6-7); his fami-
ly should be exemplary Christians (v. 6); he should be an upright and welcoming
person (vv. 7-8); and finally, he should have a grasp of Christian doctrine (v. 9).
The Church has always tried to have people of this caliber as ministers; the last
ecumenical council, for example, reminded pastors that, in the pursuit of holi-
ness, they have a special obligation to give good example to others: “they should
abound in every spiritual good and bear a living witness of God to all” (”Lumen
Gentium”, 41).
5. St Paul seems to have given Titus two jobs to do. One, which is implied here,
was to complete the catechetical instruction of the young community in Crete;
there is a lot of emphasis throughout the letter on firmness in the truth, on coun-
teracting false teachers, and on the need for all believers, particularly pastors, to
have a well-grounded faith.
The second job is to complete the hierarchical structuring of the Church. The el-
ders mentioned here perform the same role as that of the bishops in the First Let-
ter to Timothy, and they are all required to have the same qualities (on the as yet
unfixed bishop/priest terminology, see the note on 1 Tim 3:1). St Paul’s insistence
on appointing successors is a pointer to the Apostolicity of the Church: not only
do bishops have the same mission as the Apostles; that mission comes to them
from the Apostles: “In fact, not only had (the Apostles) various helpers in their mi-
nistry, but, in order that the mission entrusted to them might be continued after
their death, they consigned, by will and testament, as it were, to their immediate
collaborators the duty of completing and consolidating the work they had begun,
urging them to tend to the whole flock, in which the Holy Spirit had appointed
them to shepherd the Church of God (cf. Acts 20: 28)” (”Lumen Gentium”, 20).
Very little information is available as to when St Paul visited Crete and evange-
lized it. When he was being brought as a prisoner to Rome in the autumn of the
year 60, he probably evangelized some Cretans (cf. Acts 27:7-12); there may
also have been some Christians there ever since St Peter preached for the first
time in Jerusalem (cf. Acts 2: 11). It could be that the Apostle spent a while on
the island at some stage and established a Christian community there. Crete
was fairly important, being a necessary port of call on the Greece-Asia Minor
sea route.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Luke 17:1-6
On Leading Others Astray, Fraternal Correction
The Power of Faith
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Commentary:
1-3. Our Lord condemns scandal, that is, “any saying, action or omission which
constitute for another an occasion of sin” (”St. Pius X Catechism”, 417). Jesus
is teaching two things here: the first is that scandal will “in fact” happen; the se-
cond, that it is a grave sin, as shown by the punishment it earns.
The reason why it is so serious a sin is that it “tends to destroy God’s greatest
work, that of Redemption, through souls being lost; it kills one’s neighbor’s soul
by taking away the life of grace, which is more precious than the life of the body,
and it is the cause of a multitude of sins. This is why God threatens with the
most severe punishment those who cause others to stumble” (”ibid”., 418). See
[the notes on] Matthew 18:6-7; 18-8; 18:10.
“Take heed to yourselves”: a serious warning, meaning that we should not be a
cause of scandal to others nor should we be influenced by the bad example
others give us.
People who enjoy authority of any kind (parents, teachers, politicians, writers, ar-
tists, etc.) can more easily be a cause of scandal. We need to be on the alert in
this respect in view of our Lord’s warning, “Take heed to yourselves.”
2. Millstones were circular in shape with a large hole in the center. Our Lord’s de-
scription, therefore, was very graphic: it meant that the person’s head just fitted
through the hole and then he could not get the stone off.
3-4. In order to be a Christian one must always, genuinely, forgive others. Also,
one has to correct an erring brother to help him change his behavior. But fraternal
correction should always be done in a very refined way, full of charity; otherwise
we would humiliate the person who has committed the fault, whereas we should
not humiliate him but help him to be better.
Forgiving offenses — which is something we should always do — should not be
confused with giving up rights which have been justly violated. One can claim
rights without any kind of hatred being implied; and sometimes charity and jus-
tice require us to exercise our rights. “Let’s not confuse the rights of the office
you hold with your rights as a person. The former can never be waived” (St. J.
Escriva, “The Way”, 407).
Sincere forgiveness leads us to forget the particular offense and to extend the
hand of friendship, which in turn helps the offender to repent.
The Christian vocation is a calling to holiness, but one of its essential require-
ments is that we show apostolic concern for the spiritual welfare of others: Chris-
tianity cannot be practiced in an isolated, selfish way. Thus, “if any one among
you wanders from the truth and some one brings him back, let him know that
whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from
death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:20).
5. “Increase our faith!”: a good ejaculatory prayer for every Christian. “Omnia pos-
sibilia sunt credenti”. “Everything is possible for anyone who has faith.” The words
are Christ’s. How is it that you don’t say to Him with the Apostles: ‘”adauge nobis
fidem!” “increase my faith!’ (”The Way”, 588).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.