 So later on in his life he gets stoned to death So buskill there. Yeah Hey, I'm Jordan Burke and I'm Kristen Pryolan. This is Saints and Sages Where we talk about the wisdom of the Saints and how it's relevant for you And I don't know why I put emphasis on Sages because we're not talking about a sage today. We're talking about Saints actually Plural to Saints, which is something we've never done before Well, you had emphasis on a different syllable, but you definitely had Emphasis so we'll give you that. All right today. We're talking about two Saints in particular I was very fascinated when we started digging into their stories, but Saint Timothy and Saint Titus We're going way back going way back so far back that if you're not familiar with Timothy and Titus They were disciples of Saint Paul who if you're not familiar with Saint Paul I don't know what to tell you because you should be familiar with Saint Paul Yeah Disciple of the man himself Jesus Christ Jesus Christ And if you haven't ever thought about the lives of Saint Timothy and Saint Titus The awesome news for you is that you can just go ahead and flip open your Bible right now and check out Letter from Saint Paul to Saint Timothy and Saint Titus right there in the Bible, you know I didn't think about that but that's a good point because we've had Past you know, we've talked about on some of these past episodes like hey look we pulled as much info as we could We don't have a ton This is what we got its oral tradition like Saint Philan was one of those this one. We have literal the word of God So we got kind of lucky on our on our research here and fun fact according to tradition Paul wrote the two letters as you see letter to Timothy number one and number two and then to Titus as well And they are the only two letters of the New Testament Addressed not to communities but to direct people and that is it's actually really important We'll get into that here shortly, but why it is addressed to Timothy And we'll talk about that and you know, let's just talk about you want to start with Timothy Let's do it on to Titus. So Timothy his name is Greek and it comes from or it basically means one who honors God Timothy was mentioned six times in Luke, but Paul as you had mentioned writing him letters mentions him 17 times That's that's a pretty big deal Timothy was ordained and or rather baptized and ordained because you have to do it in a particular order by Saint Paul and Paul calls him one of his closest disciples and further you'll see when we dive into scripture that Paul really referred to Timothy as Like his son and in fact he calls him my son I mean, that's how close they were which is really really kind of fascinating Which was probably really meaningful for him, especially since his father was pagan So, you know coming from the Greek background, although his mother was Jewish. He was kind of born into a Family that was torn Relagiously, so having a father figure in Saint Paul must have been really meaningful for him Just in his upbringing and being able to relate with him and connect with him on all things Central to Jesus and Christianity. It's a good point. I hadn't considered that but that's a really good point. That's a really good point When we dive into scripture, we find Passages from like 1 Corinthians 4 17 where it says for this reason I have sent you Timothy my son whom I love Who is faithful to the Lord, you know the emphasis on the relationship and The emotion involved in that relationship, which is fascinating again because this was You know, we're moving kind of quick through his life, but Timothy became a disciple of Paul Right and what we're seeing here and what really kind of jumped out to me was that Paul was taking Timothy and Raising him to his status if that makes it to the status of Paul He says my collaborator my son my co-worker these these phrases that he uses Which is fascinating when you when you think about the fact that Paul was one of the 12 Right and and Paul is saying hey, he's with me. We're at the same level in a really honorable position. Yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, so in Philippians 2 19 through 20 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon that I may be cheered when I receive news about you I have no one else like him who will show genuine concern for your welfare so that kind of gives you an idea of How Timothy operated and his heart and for you know for people and for this mission I've you had yeah, and Paul believes so confidently in Timothy that he even says in scripture second Timothy 1 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now I am sure dwells in you Yeah, I love that because he had confidence in Timothy and obviously believed in him And isn't that just the best when you've got someone who really believes in you especially so close to the source, you know Jesus Christ himself That would give me a lot of courage. I just in and we really need to emphasize that Paul was one of the 12 He spoke eight with Jesus and Now this disciple who ultimately founded the church is Saying hey You're you're with me You're my son I'm sending you to do these special missions and then writing to those people ahead of time and saying hey The person I'm sending you is my son. He's really important. He's my co-wrestling. I think you in yeah, Roman 1621 Timothy my co-worker my co-worker, right? This is a younger guy. Timothy is younger than Paul But the status there, I mean and these things are important, especially in that time, you know Why we mentioned in the past where no words were wasted back then there was no like flip it like everything especially in scripture Was chosen for a purpose the wording was specifically chosen Everything was very purposeful. So anyway, I hate to keep harping on that But it's no I love that you're highlighting this aspect of his journey because that's not something I've ever pondered before in that close proximity to one of the apostles Timothy had the assurance Not only the assurance of just following someone so close and intimate with Jesus But St. Paul was a really epic guy and he had a lot of passion a lot of fervor and he encouraged Timothy Regularly even when he was like in prison. He was writing this letter and that would give me so much like zeal You know, I'd be like really built up ready to go like let's go evangelize because I've got Paul behind me And I think that really just reveals what you're talking about here this Ability to have confidence in our God through other people collaborators in the mission to love God and love others Yep, so later on in his life He gets stoned to death So buskill there So bringing it down and he was killed because he refused to worship a pagan God Something else really interesting because I did you if why don't want to jump too far Did you have something else on Timothy or are we good to move to Titus? No, really it was just that he kept traveling with Paul He was highly esteemed by those that he encountered all throughout he followed him a lot in different ministry Cities so did you see this was like my random tidbit that I found I was like I don't this has nothing to do with anything. I'm gonna sit where I want to put it in here because it's interesting St. Paul wrote to Timothy and says stop drinking only water But have a little wine for the sake of your stomach Illnesses at first Timothy 523. He's the patron saint of stomach disorder Actually, they both are the patron saint of stomach disorders But I just love that that was also interesting because it was it it shows you two things one that Timothy was human yet frequent stomach issues now someone who suffers from frequent stomach issues I can I can feel his pain, but also kind of like the fatherly care of St. Paul Stop drinking only water have a little bit of wine. You need to chill out And I wonder if the translation is there very clear in that or if we're misinterpreting but that is really encouraging because So often us, I don't know Christians can get really caught up in like I gotta serve I gotta be holy or to be righteous, you know, and then it's just like Relax. Yeah, you also have to take care of yourself. Take a breather. It's gonna be okay. God's got you So number two of this mission Um, I guess technically combo. Yeah, there you go trio Yeah, it is st. Titus and st. Titus is fascinating because he was actually a convert from paganism So his whole family was pagan Greek. Yeah. Yeah, and he's a he's also a younger guy I believe Titus was actually younger than Timothy. Am I correct on that or am I am I I think you're right? Okay Um, someone got correct to simple wrong But he also traveled with st. Paul on missions And what was really kind of cool about st. Titus is that he had this huge conversion And when st. Paul made him the bishop of creed creed was in a it was in a bad spot So they were part of what Paul had set up But like they had gone off the rails and so basically Paul Told Titus say I need you to go back and and and take care of this because Paul considered Titus As a peacemaker. He was very good at like where where I read at one point where Paul was like really stern appropriately so of course authoritative authoritative is probably a better way to say it Uh, Titus was really good at kind of coming in there and like smoothing that road So people yeah, people got riled up from what Paul wrote Titus would come in and kind of say yes, that's true Let's and then you know, whatever whatever kind of paved the way after Paul dropped all the bombs Yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, that's really beautiful And he also was given the task of bringing Corinth the community back to obedience Which just that in and of itself sounds really really taxing And very difficult to bring an entire community back to obedience Because imagine coming in and not having I don't know you maybe having the authority because of paul's authority, you know people might have that trustworthiness because of his Here say and I'm just the authority of jesus christ. Anyway, what I'm getting at is that's a big to do Yeah, and and the fact that paul was able to trust Titus his companion with that is really a big list like that's a long list of things Okay, like I've got to bring these people back not only to tradition and what they were originally taught But also the new news the good news of the gospel jesus christ And so that's kind of a radical transformation transformation for this community. Oh, yeah And I could imagine that being just a really big task one I wanted to quote franciscan media Who wrote when paul was having trouble with the community at corinth exactly what you're talking about Titus was the bearer of paul's severe letter In what six this is kind of what I was talking about before where paul kind of you know drop truth bombs But he was severely telling them. Hey, you're you're out of line. You can't do this So he gives us letter to titus Titus brings it this this letter and then they say and then franciscan media writes Uh, so he bears a letter and was successful in smoothing things out paul writes He was strengthened not only by the arrival of titus But also by the encouragement with which he was encouraged in regard to you And so we're quoting scripture now as he told us of your yearning your lament your zeal for me So that I rejoiced even more and his heart goes out to you all the more as he remembers the obedience of you all When you received him with fear and trembling so like They knew they messed up They knew that paul was dropping bombs And titus was able to go and just make peace and and correct the rocks Which is really kind of cool And I wonder if this is why this is just me speculating so in scripture It says in titus three three for we ourselves were once foolish disobeyed Let us stray slaves to various passions and pleasures passing our days in malice and envy hated by men and hating one another But then the goodness And loving kindness of god our savior appeared He saved us not because of deeds done by us in righteousness But in virtue of his own mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the holy spirit Which he poured out upon us richly through jesus christ our savior And I love that he states that paul too titus Because he reminds him like hey, you know what us too. We were once sinners You know and we're walking with you corned through this We were with you on that we were acting stupid and foolish and dumb and how authentic is that I love that honor And what's the what's just how real they are testimony is the most powerful tool of evangelization It's true. I mean that's what that's exactly what they're doing They're giving their their testimony and to this day that remains true testimonies the most powerful tool of evangelization So your stories are important. It's true. It's very true your stories can actually set people free and I am a A unworthy but Thankful participant in some of that because someone was honest with us right about their story And through their honesty and vulnerability It gave us I get to speak for myself It has given me perspective on who jesus the person of god truly was and who he is And that transformed me and it wasn't sugar coated. Yeah, it's always not sugar coated, you know with like Oh, I kind of felt really great, but I still you know, I sinned a little bit But now I'm through jesus. I've been transformed. No, it's like the real nitty-gritty like no I was stuck in my sexual passions or you know, I had temptation and was addicted to xyz And now I've overcome through jesus. You know, listen to my testimony. It's out there I mean, that's exactly what that is. There's no sugar coating. It's it is You know, I'm not salacious at all because it would be a sin But I'm very straight to the point like this is what I did. This is how I screwed up This is what it happened and what what happens Every time someone's like, ah, okay I see I see there's a change. It's possible. You know, that's sort of that sort of thing But I don't want to get too bad. So that's hi this You know peacemaker and it's interesting because he ends up dying a natural death at the age of 94 And uh, according to tradition, he was a virgin his whole life too, which was kind of an interesting Interesting tidbit now Did you have something? You know, I just was thinking that is interesting and that just shows how much confidence even more so that people could have in him because of his purity and virginity and choice to be Holy in that way because that's a that's a high call. Yeah to be celibate Now I was lucky to find something pretty cool that I wanted to share in regards to uh, Timothy and Titus Pope Benedict the 16th Actually wrote a pretty neat letter regarding them and I have a Couple bits and pieces that I want to pull out of there But um, and it kind of gave the theme so to speak of, you know, the modern day Like how is this applicable to our lives? Like, okay, they were bishops. They they combated Uh heresy they were like they were with the disciple. But what does that mean to us? And what I pulled out of it at least for me Is exactly what st. Benedict wrote which is as the closest collaborators of st. Paul Timothy and Titus show us that we too can be rich and good deeds and thus open doors of the world to jesus but more specifically He wrote it clearly appears that he did not do he as in paul did not do everything on his own But relied on trustworthy people who shared in his endeavors and responsibilities He's talking about collaboration. He's talking about friendship He's talking about fulfilling mission with other faithful people and it's exactly what you've said multiple times on this podcast saints run the packs not only as We're often referring to it as a support system, which it is But an evangelization system Where yeah, of course, we should have other holy people to help us because we're constantly in spiritual battle But we should also have holy people around us to help further the mission Further the mission of the kingdom and that's exactly what paul did I mean if he got these two guys they became his disciples and you know set the world on fire and accepting that need for interconnectedness our our Acceptance that we need each other is so part of god's mission, right? We are not able to Share everything that god has just solo me or solo you it is up to the body of christ And god made us for community. We're not meant to be isolated. We are not meant to be alone in that We have to work together. That's part of god's plan is for us to be collaborators unless you're called to be a hermit And I don't think that that's they're still collaborating with us. They are still through prayer Yeah, yeah, which is so cool and interconnected. I don't know if you guys have ever had this moment when You're thinking about someone maybe you're in prayer. Maybe you're not maybe we're just going throughout your day And you're like, yeah, this person came to mind like mine today this morning was actually hannah meeker I was thinking about hannah and I was praying for her and I was thinking about her Hoping that we could connect soon and y'all lo and behold after I got our prayer I saw a text from her and I really do think that the lord connects us with people in that way to think about them And to pray for them brings us to mind Have you ever been woken up in the middle of the night and just thought man I really you had someone on your heart and just like pressing on your heart To pray for them and maybe they called you the next day and we're like if I woke up in the middle of Night and someone was pressing on my heart. I'd call the cops Thank you Jordan for that perspective I think William stop like leave me alone. I don't know what even Jordan for But um, you know, I mean like it's really beautiful how the lord connects us as a mystical body of christ is all I'm getting at We can be dependent on each other in prayer But yeah, even the monks they're collaborators because it's part of god's plan. He wants us to realize We are totally dependent on him without him if he stopped loving us We would be gone vanish from existence and it's through him that we were able to operate and do anything um And so that's our Like I don't know our foundation for a lot of what we do here at avala I think is recognizing that we Are nothing god is everything in that total Just that I don't know poverty of spirit and Humility recognizing we can't do anything on our own it is through the grace and when we cooperate with that grace and with each other We're able to be Amazing missionaries like st. Titus and st. Timothy. Yeah, who who were little humble people like, you know, they didn't know when they were born Coming from a greek pagan background and greek and jewish background And so then in terms of collaboration not just being humble in spirit, but think about who your your friends are And you know, I'm sure we've touched on this in the past, but are they helping you get to heaven? Okay, are they helping you fulfill your mission? That's that's more along the lines of what we're talking about here St. Paul didn't just surround himself. He was on mission On mission. So who did he surround himself with people who furthered that mission? That's the collaboration So who who do I spend time with? You know, who do you listener spend time with? What's your mission? Are they helping you further that or not? And I would say if they're not then, you know, you can love them from a distance You know, but you got to discern appropriately. Hey as this person I I have this thing called mission versus distraction. Are they part of the mission or are they distraction? That's not to say that people are bad because that's that's not what i'm saying at all But if you have been put on this earth for a purpose and we all have been put on this earth for a purpose That's a fact. We all have mission. We all have vocation. Some of us may not know what that is And that's fine, but we all have it. That's that's undeniable irrefutable fact What are you doing to fulfill that and then now look at who are who are your collaborators? Who is around you? Who are you giving your time to? It seems the more I go the older I'm getting which is such a strange phrase to say but the older I'm getting The more I'm looking around and thinking oh I'm running out of time Time I'm running out of time How am I utilizing this time to fulfill the mission that God has put me on this earth for? And I'm really not interested in spending time with anybody who is not helping me further that mission That's not to say that I don't love people again just to clarify. That's not to say that I won't talk to somebody I'm not, you know, there's no talk to the hand. There's none of that garbage You love everybody as you're supposed to But who is getting my time? Who am I collaborating with? those people Are the ones that I want to I want around me investing Yes, those are the people I want to invest in there. There's a phrase that I love. It's be a value add That's uh, this navy seal. I stole it from but his his thing is always you need to be a value add You need to add value to whatever you're doing whoever you're with Yes, but you should also have people around you who are a value add because if you're being a value add And your buddy's being a value add then they're adding value to you I've said that word far too many times. Hopefully you get the point, right? You get what I'm saying. I think I do yet. Yes, Jordan. And thank you for sharing that Um, it's true and our friendships are so important This is a place that we off that I often go back to of like, okay lord Who have you placed in my life that you long for me to be invested in and am I actually Fulfilling that am I actually loving them? Well, am I serving them? Well, or am I distracted by the surrounding people the acquaintances that are actually Like yearning for my attention, but that's not what god is calling me to and that's okay to have that boundary And to be honest in those relationships that are not Yeah, um Part of god's mission for you to serve his kingdom and serve it well like so There are moments in life where it's okay to just be right like I don't know about you, but if you are close in proximity to jesus Then you will have a transformed radical perspective of life Just like st. Timothy and st. Titus did because they were close in proximity to st. Paul who was close to jesus They changed their whole life trajectory Like as if st. Titus was born thinking yam to be the bishop for Corinth and creed like no He wasn't thinking that when he was ready as a kid, but Because he was absolutely transformed He spent time with people who cared about the same heartbeat of god as he did And then he went out and so I love what you're saying here and pope benedict the 16th really wrapped it up well with collaborators, you know and friendships that are Meaningful and not only meaningful but purposeful With with the love of god that is It's immeasurable and we can't like you can't ignore it Once you once you've seen that love or experience the love of god It is just permeable and everything that we do and so if you're that person and you're like well, wait a minute I don't know if my friends actually have that same heartbeat mission Definitely take it to prayer like go before the lord and sit with him and say like lord Do I need to actually exit some friendships? And if I do how because that sounds really hard Do I need to invite new people in my life? Do I have spiritual mentors? Like do I have a spiritual director? Do I need one should I get one? Yes Um and just like bring those fears and those thoughts to god He wants to hear about it. I'll tell you this too in terms of you know, what you just said There's so many messages that I've gotten from people who say listen I'm having people leave because I'm taking my faith seriously and it hurts and I'm like, you know what? I get it. It does hurt but you're fulfilling mission And they weren't for whatever reason a part of that And that sucks and that's hard But you're doing the right thing And I there's this goofy phrase that I love it's um those Who mind don't matter And those who matter don't mind Right. So are again, it's it's goes back to there's all these goofy phrases in my head. I don't know why I don't know where these come from or where we'll yeah like hold on to them. But um The whole point of that is if you're struggling with hey, are these people Gonna stay one of the easiest things you can do is just fulfill your mission and And in some cases they'll fall away or they'll join Because if you're doing what you're supposed to be doing if you're following christ Things are gonna fall into place So I hope that makes sense. Yeah, it does and run confidently. Yeah run confidently towards jesus He will set things in motion for you. It's just trusting him And accepting when it really does hurt when you lose a friend that you thought was actually your friend But maybe they're not and maybe it's time to let them go I didn't realize that this conversation about saints titus and timothy was going to be about friendship, but I'm loving that it is Because timothy and tithes for friend. They had to have been because I mean they're running around the same circle Yeah, for sure. They're missionaries together. Well, let's definitely go out and make disciples of all nations Just like them and to truly evangelize authentically and to love jesus radically And I know i'm just saying like a bunch of things but I mean it genuinely I really do all the adverbs You've got quotes. I've got adverbs Be a value ad You know figure out who your collaborators are loving God and set the world on fire. Not literally Okay, maybe every once in a while light your candles You got a fireplace. I'm jealous with real wood. Are you jealous? Yeah, I love real wood fireplaces fires are great We need a bonfire. That's a good idea. I think we're getting off topic I'm starting to lose my voice anyway, so we should probably kill the show. Thanks for listening y'all We love for you to email us that saints pause at saints pot at my avala.com if I can say or email That's saints pot at my avala.com. You can send us your feedback. Uh, you can rate us if you like on itunes Rate us five stars. It's a huge help. Yeah stars If you don't like us, that's you know, sorry, but don't give us a rating Bye