Heritage of Hope and Help

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to assess how we might offer our experience and Divine enlightenment to help others grow in relationship with God.

Gathered in His Name

The Reading from the Second Letter of Timothy presents Paul’s Example and Teaching.

* [3:10–17] Paul’s example for Timothy includes persecution, a frequent emphasis in the Pastorals. Timothy is to be steadfast to what he has been taught and to scripture. The scriptures are the source of wisdom, i.e., of belief in and loving fulfillment of God’s word revealed in Christ, through whom salvation is given.

* [3:16–17] Useful for teaching…every good work: because as God’s word the scriptures share his divine authority. It is exercised through those who are ministers of the word.

* [3:16] All scripture is inspired by God: this could possibly also be translated, “All scripture inspired by God is useful for….” In this classic reference to inspiration, God is its principal author, with the writer as the human collaborator. Thus the scriptures are the word of God in human language. See also 2 Pt 1:20–21. (2 Timothy, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 119 presents peace in fidelity to the law.

* [Psalm 119] This Psalm, the longest by far in the Psalter, praises God for giving such splendid laws and instruction for people to live by. The author glorifies and thanks God for the Torah, prays for protection from sinners enraged by others’ fidelity to the law, laments the cost of obedience, delights in the law’s consolations, begs for wisdom to understand the precepts, and asks for the rewards of keeping them. (Psalms,CHAPTER 119 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus addresses the Question About David’s Son.

* [12:35–37] Jesus questions the claim of the scribes about the Davidic descent of the Messiah, not to deny it (Mt 1:1; Acts 2:20, 34; Rom 1:3; 2 Tm 2:8) but to imply that he is more than this. His superiority derives from his transcendent origin, to which David himself attested when he spoke of the Messiah with the name “Lord” (Ps 110:1). See also note on Mt 22:41–46. (Mark, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB, n.d.)

* [22:41–46] Having answered the questions of his opponents in the preceding three controversies, Jesus now puts a question to them about the sonship of the Messiah. Their easy response (Mt 22:43a) is countered by his quoting a verse of Ps 110 that raises a problem for their response (43b–45). They are unable to solve it and from that day on their questioning of him is ended.

* [22:41] The Pharisees…questioned them: Mark is not specific about who are questioned (Mk 12:35).

* [22:42–44] David’s: this view of the Pharisees was based on such Old Testament texts as Is 11:1–9; Jer 23:5; and Ez 34:23; see also the extrabiblical Psalms of Solomon 17:21. How, then…saying: Jesus cites Ps 110:1 accepting the Davidic authorship of the psalm, a common view of his time. The psalm was probably composed for the enthronement of a Davidic king of Judah. Matthew assumes that the Pharisees interpret it as referring to the Messiah, although there is no clear evidence that it was so interpreted in the Judaism of Jesus’ time. It was widely used in the early church as referring to the exaltation of the risen Jesus. My lord: understood as the Messiah.

* [22:45] Since Matthew presents Jesus both as Messiah (Mt 16:16) and as Son of David (Mt 1:1; see also note on Mt 9:27), the question is not meant to imply Jesus’ denial of Davidic sonship. It probably means that although he is the Son of David, he is someone greater, Son of Man and Son of God, and recognized as greater by David who calls him my ‘lord.’ (Matthew, CHAPTER 22 | USCCB, n.d.)

Jeanne Schuler comments that persecution is a harsh reality. Those who were bullied in school get this pain. Mostly we dodge thoughts of deliberately inflicting harm. Paul consoles us: “Yet from all these things the Lord delivered me.” What lies before us is unknown. What we do know is that we do not face trouble alone. God dwells within us through good times and bad.

What gets us closer to the reality is to consider those whom we persecute. How do good-hearted folks like us persecute? Pope Francis points to the indifference that numbs us to the plight of others. Some poor countries welcome refugees. Our rich country has slammed the door on refugees, who are stuck in camps waiting for years. The harm inflicted in my name barely registers.

Victim or perpetrator, no one is abandoned. Jesus left us the word. Paul reminds the community to study scripture to find protection from those lurking in the shadows. Those “consecrated in truth” by Jesus can recognize what is twisted. In today’s gospel, Jesus rebuts the scribes, who question his identity, with a passage from the Psalms.

Let us love this world as those consecrated in truth. (Schuler, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Jesus is Son of David and Son of God”, by Cyril of Alexandria, 375-444 A.D.

"We also will ask the Pharisees of today a similar question. They deny that he who was born of the holy Virgin is very Son of God the Father and himself also God. They also divide the one Christ into two sons. Let these people explain to us how David's Son is his Lord, not so much as to human lordship as divine. To sit at the right hand of the Father is the assurance and pledge of supreme glory. Those who share the same throne are equal also in dignity, and those who are crowned with equal honors are understood of course to be equal in nature. To sit by God can signify nothing else than sovereign authority. The throne declares to us that Christ possesses power over everything and supremacy by right of his substance.

"How is the Son of David David's Lord, seated at the right hand of God the Father and on the throne of Deity? Is it not altogether according to the unerring word of the mystery that the Word as God sprung from the very substance of God the Father? Being in his likeness and equal with him, he became flesh. He became man, perfectly and yet without departing from the incomparable excellence of the divine dignities. He continued in that state in which he had always been. He still was God, although he became flesh and in form like us. He is David's Lord therefore according to that which belongs to his divine glory, nature and sovereignty. He is his son according to the flesh." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 137.52) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on 2 Timothy 3:10-17 comments that Paul’s answer to Timothy’s anxieties was surprisingly simple. After detailing his own challenges, he counseled his young friend simply to “remain faithful” to the things he had “learned and believed” about the life of a disciple (2 Timothy 3:14).

Remain faithful. When the way seems unsure, take a step back, and ask the Spirit if there is one simple principle of faith—something you have “learned and believed” (2 Timothy 3:14)—that can help you move forward. Is it the call to forgive? To be generous? To speak a difficult truth to someone firmly but with care? Take that one step and see where it leads.

Remain faithful. Don’t let the anxieties of life or the complexities of the world hold you back. You are a child of God, an heir to a vast treasury of heavenly wisdom and strength. Hold fast to that, and you can always find the way forward.

“Lord, help me remain faithful to you.”  (Meditation on 2 Timothy 3:10-17, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that, in Timothy, the author speaks of the persecution of Paul yet he continued to preach the Gospel. By the time of this letter, wicked persons, charlatans and heretics have arisen indicating a later point in time than Paul’s ministry. The Hebrew Testament is cited as Sacred Scripture, at this time, to stay on the right path. The Gospel became sacred scripture in the 2nd Century. The Gospel proclaims Christ is the Messiah, the Son of David. Jesus quotes the Psalms where the Lord speaks to my Lord to the Scribes. Jesus is showing a cleverness that profounds His enemies. Friar Jude comments that saying what others cannot understand showed the cleverness so esteemed in the ancient world.

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, invites us to know and honor ourselves and others in all our complexity. “Why, oh why, do we allow temporary costumes, or what Thomas Merton called the “false self,” to pass for the substantial self, the soul, which is always “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3)?” Episcopal priest Elizabeth Edman recounts a story of challenging expectations as a child.

I was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1962. The world I grew up in was defined by rigid binaries: white/black, capitalist/communist, north/south. Oh yeah, and male/female. That one didn’t work for this tomboy.

When I was five, I had to drag my mother into the boy’s section of the shoe store to look at sneakers. “Mama, c’mere! Let me show you the ones I want!”…

When I presented the shoes to the clerk, he said, “Those are boys’ shoes.”

My mother cut him off: “Yes, size four, please.”

My mother was a singer. Being who she was meant having the courage to witness God’s presence in the sacred music she loved. You could see her put her whole trust in God, entering into this space between heaven and earth where her best voice, her best self, emerged.

Christianity is all about being who you are. That’s what Jesus was trying to tell us: Orient your whole being to the sacred, he insisted. Not because I’m telling you to, not because it’s what Scripture demands; do it because it’s who you are. It’s who God created you to be. God made us to be complex creatures, every one of us, for a reason. So if you want to honor God, here’s the first step: Know who you are. Be who you are. Be the person God created you to be. Amen. [3] (Rohr, n.d.)

We contemplate the example of the ministry of Timothy and seek the inspiration to support our fellow Christians in their response in bringing help and hope to our communities.

References

Mark, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved June 5, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/12?35 

Matthew, CHAPTER 22 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved June 5, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/22?41=#48022041 

Meditation on 2 Timothy 3:10-17. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved June 5, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/06/05/1585603/

Psalms,CHAPTER 119 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved June 5, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/119?157 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC.org. Retrieved June 5, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-place-for-god-to-move-in/ 

Schuler, J. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved June 5, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-june-5-2026 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). The Christ Is the Son of David. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 5, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

2 Timothy, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 5, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2timothy/3? 

Struggle for Wisdom

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of the assumptions we make that may be leading us away from Truth, Goodness and Love.

Reflect on our assumptions

In the passage from the Letter to the Romans, Paul wrestles with his personal challenges in choosing between Love and Sin.

* [7:13–25] Far from improving the sinner, law encourages sin to expose itself in transgressions or violations of specific commandments (see Rom 1:24; 5:20). Thus persons who do not experience the justifying grace of God, and Christians who revert to dependence on law as the criterion for their relationship with God, will recognize a rift between their reasoned desire for the goodness of the law and their actual performance that is contrary to the law. Unable to free themselves from the slavery of sin and the power of death, they can only be rescued from defeat in the conflict by the power of God’s grace working through Jesus Christ.1 

In Psalm 119, the author begs for wisdom to understand the precepts of God.

* [Psalm 119] This Psalm, the longest by far in the Psalter, praises God for giving such splendid laws and instruction for people to live by. The author glorifies and thanks God for the Torah, prays for protection from sinners enraged by others’ fidelity to the law, laments the cost of obedience, delights in the law’s consolations, begs for wisdom to understand the precepts, and asks for the rewards of keeping them2. 

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus urges us to interpret the signs of the times concerning reconciliation with God and neighbour.

* [12:59] The last penny: Greek, lepton, a very small amount. Mt 5:26 has for “the last penny” the Greek word kodrantēs (Latin quadrans, “farthing”).3 

Cindy Murphy McMahon reflects that sometimes, like Paul says, we really are at war within ourselves. We really know a particular action or thought is sinful. It destroys instead of building up. It contains falsehood instead of truth. It idolizes a false god, such as money or power or ego, instead of submitting to the one true God, Who is love.

But even then, as Paul states many times, especially in this letter to the Romans, Jesus saves. In the end, we cannot save ourselves. Jesus extends his saving hand, but we have to grasp it. We have to take hold of his hand or we lose out on what he is offering – in this life, and the next.4 

Don Schwager quotes “Signs from the Law point to the dawn of the Mystery of Christ,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).

"People focus their attention on things of this kind. From long observation and practice they tell beforehand when rain will fall or violent winds will blow. One especially sees that sailors are very skillful in this matter. He says that it would be suitable for those who can calculate things of this sort and may foretell storms that are about to happen to focus the penetrating eyes of the mind also on important matters. What are these? The law showed beforehand the mystery of Christ, that he would shine out in the last ages of the world on the inhabitants of the earth and submit to be a sacrifice for the salvation of all. It even commanded a lamb to be sacrificed as a type of him who died towards evening and at lighting of lamps (Exodus 12:6).    "We might now understand that when, like the day, this world was declining to its close, the great, precious and truly saving passion would be fulfilled. The door of salvation would be thrown wide open to those who believe in him, and abundant happiness be their share. In the Song of Songs, we also find Christ calling to the bride described there. The bride personally represents the church, in these words, 'Arise, come, my neighbor, my beautiful dove. Look, the winter is past, and the rain is gone. It has passed away. The flowers appear on the ground. The time of the pruning has come' (Song 2:10-12). As I said, a certain springlike calm was about to arise for those who believe in him." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 95)5 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Romans 7:18-25 comments that Paul seems to be repeating what he has said all along, only now he is saying it personally, joyfully, and filled with gratitude for the gift of salvation. Of course, Paul is still teaching. He is using his own experience to bring his teaching to life.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus matters! It may sound obvious, but that doesn’t make it any less true. His gospel is your salvation from the very real sins you commit. His mercy is your hope for peace and comfort in the battle against sin. His love—a real love that you can sense in your heart and in the people around you—is the foundation for your life.
So when temptation comes fast and furious or when frustration or guilt or anxiety feels like a millstone around your neck, remember Paul. Remember his teaching, but remember also his struggles and his faith. Then cry out with him,
“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”6

Friar Jude Winkler connects the part of us that drags us down to the concept of concupiscence as described by Saint Augustine. But for the Grace of God, we are not going to make it. Friar Jude notes that grey hair is the best sign that we should get our act together.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, cites openly queer Episcopal priest Elizabeth Edman who shares about the first time she preached on the Gospel passage about the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11). To reject easy binaries is to enter into uncertain terrain. The discomfort of such liminal space is often at the heart of the fear that erupts in violence against queer people—violence that may be physical, or legal, or ecclesial, or economic. You really can get fired for it, even in denominations that pride themselves on being gay friendly. [1] Lots of priests and pastors have.

And that’s just so many shades of wrong, because in fact, busting those false dichotomies is part and parcel of [our] tradition. It is one of the bedrock reasons I am a Christian and love my tradition so much. Christianity pushes me right off that cliff of comfortable binaries all the time, and I need that. . . . “Love my enemy? Do good to those who persecute us? How could love and persecution possibly coexist?” [2]
Richard again: She’s right, you know. The Gospel often puts us on the horns of a dilemma so we can wrestle with it. Jesus transgresses one boundary after another and we accept, celebrate, and even try to emulate him in many ways. Are we Christians today open to the possibility that God has called others (by the design of their very bodies) to wrestle with other questions and share their divinely-inspired insights and experiences without shame?7 

Our tendency to be comforted by confirmation bias is a component of our tendency to be dragged down in our struggle to Love as Jesus.

References

1	(n.d.). Romans, chapter 7 - United States Conference of Catholic .... Retrieved October 25, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/romans/7
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 119 - United States Conference of Catholic .... Retrieved October 25, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/119
3	(n.d.). Luke, chapter 12 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved October 25, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/12
4	(n.d.). Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries .... Retrieved October 25, 2019, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 25, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). 29th Week in Ordinary Time - Mass Readings and Catholic .... Retrieved October 25, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/10/25/
7	(2019, October 25). The Wedding at Cana — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved October 25, 2019, from https://cac.org/the-wedding-at-cana-2019-10-25/