Our Holy Father Sylvester, Pope of Rome. Pre-feast of Theophany.
Titus 1:5-2:1; Luke 20:9-18.
Read Titus 1:5-2:1
St. Paul mentions that, “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, but hospitable, a lover of goodness, master of himself, upright, holy, and self-controlled; 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” (Titus 1:5-9). Although Paul is describing the qualities bishops must have, these are qualities that all Christians should aspire to embody.
At ordinations to the major orders in the Byzantine rite, one of the prayers for an ordinand begins: “Divine grace, which always cures the infirm and supplies what is wanting.” All of us humans have been wounded by sin. Sin has made us infirm and leads to death. By the grace of God, we have been saved through faith (Eph. 2:8). In his second letter to Timothy, Paul writes that God “saved us and called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago, and now has manifested through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:9). This “holy calling” is not restricted to clergy. The gift of grace, salvation, and eternal life is not restricted to clergy. Although we pray for the gift of God’s grace especially at ordinations, we know that God pours forth His grace on all of us.
By God’s grace, let us aspire to be blameless, hospitable, a lover of goodness, upright, holy, sound in mind, and disciplined. Let us be firm in our faith and seek to pass down what was handed down to us from the apostles through the Church.