2 Timothy, Chapter 1, verses 1-8

¹ Paul's love to Timothy, and the unfeigned faith which was in Timothy himself, his mother, and grandmother, ⁶ He is exhorted to stir up the gift of God which was in him, ⁸ to be steadfast, and patient in persecution

¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

²To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;

⁴Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;

⁵When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

⁶Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

⁷For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

⁸Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

Read more:2 Timothy, Chapter 1

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1:3 Whom I serve from my forefathers - That is, whom both I and my ancestors served. With a pure conscience - He always worshipped God according to his conscience, both before and after his conversion One who stands on the verge of life is much refreshed by the remembrance of his predecessors, to whom he is going.

1:4 Being mindful of thy tears - Perhaps frequently shed, as well as at the apostle's last parting with him.

1:5 Which dwelt - A word not applied to a transient guest, but only to a settled inhabitant. First - Probably this was before Timothy was born, yet not beyond St. Paul's memory.

1:6 Wherefore - Because I remember this. I remind thee of stirring up - Literally, blowing up the coals into a flame. The gift of God - All the spiritual gifts, which the grace of God has given thee.

1:7 And let nothing discourage thee, for God hath not given us - That is, the spirit which God hath given us Christians, isnot the spirit of fear - Or cowardice. But of power - Banishing fear. And love and sobriety - These animate us in ourduties to God, our brethren, and ourselves. Power and sobriety are two good extremes. Love is between, the tie and temperament of both; preventing the two bad extremes of fearfulness and rashness. More is said concerning power, Ti1 1:8; concerning love, Ti2 2:14, etc ; concerning sobriety, Ti2 3:1, etc

1:8 Therefore be not thou ashamed - When fear is banished, evil shame also flees away. Of the testimony of our Lord - The gospel, and of testifying the truth of it to all men. Nor of me - The cause of the servants of God doing his work, cannot be separated from the cause of God himself. But be thou partaker of the afflictions - Which I endure for the gospel's sake.According to the power of God - This which overcomes all things is nervously described in the two next verses.

Mark, Chapter 4, verses 1-20

¹ The parable of the sower, ¹⁴ and the meaning thereof

¹And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.

²And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,

³Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:

⁴And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.

⁵And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:

⁶But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

⁷And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

⁸And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.

⁹And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

¹⁰And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.

¹¹And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:

¹²That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

¹³And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?

¹⁴The sower soweth the word.

¹⁵And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

¹⁶And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;

¹⁷And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.

¹⁸And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,

¹⁹And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

²⁰And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

Read more:Mark, Chapter 4

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4:1 Mat 13:1; Luk 8:4.

4:2 He taught them many things by parables - After the usual manner of the eastern nations, to make his instructions more agreeable to them, and to impress them the more upon attentive hearers. A parable signifies not only a simile or comparison, and sometimes a proverb, but any kind of instructive speech, wherein spiritual things are explained and illustrated by natural, Pro 1:6.To understand a proverb and the interpretation - The proverb is the literal sense, the interpretation is the spiritual resting in the literal sense killeth, but the spiritual giveth life.

4:3 Hearken - This word he probably spoke with a loud voice, to stop the noise and hurry of the people.

4:10 When he was alone - That is, retired apart from the multitude.

4:11 To them that are without - So the Jews termed the heathens: so our Lord terms all obstinate unbelievers: for they shall not enter into his kingdom: they shall abide in outer darkness.

4:12 So that seeing they see and do not perceive - They would not see before now they could not, God having given them up to the blindness which they had chosen.

4:13 Know ye not this parable? - Which is as it were the foundation of all those that I shall speak hereafter; and is so easy to be understood?

4:19 The desire of other things choke the word - A deep and important truth! The desire of any thing, otherwise than as it leads to happiness in God, directly tends to barrenness of soul.Entering in - Where they were not before. Let him therefore who has received and retained the word, see that no other desire then enter in, such as perhaps till then he never knew.It becometh unfruitful - After the fruit had grown almost to perfection.


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Catholic lectionary for 26 January 2017

2 Timothy, Chapter 1, verses 1-8

Mark, Chapter 4, verses 1-20