“I yearn to see you again, recalling your tears, so that I may be filled with joy, as I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and I am confident lives also in you” (2 Timothy 1:3-5).
What is wonderful about the words that St. Paul wrote to Timothy was not only the affection he had for Timothy, his recalling of Timothy’s tears, which was most likely from their last parting, but also that he knew Timothy’s mother and grandmother. He also remembered their names and the depth of the faith of each. What will bring him great joy is seeing them again. Who would we write a letter like this to?
We are at our best when we resist slipping into a deist understanding or misunderstanding that God is just something or someone out there, the big guy in the sky. God is a person, three persons, a divine community of love. God thirsts and hungers to be in relationship with each one of us. He is so far beyond our imagination and conception while at the same time he is closer to us than we are to ourselves. The Father sent his Son to us so that we can share in the divine love of the community of the Trinity. We are invited to build a relationship with God and that is to be our top priority.
As God is not just an idea, Christianity is not just a philosophy or even a theology. Christianity is an invitation to be in a relationship with a person, the God made man, Jesus the Christ. This faith in and willingness to enter into a relationship with God was lived by Lois, passed on to Eunice, and they both modeled and shared their relationship with God to Timothy.
They knew and loved God and one another, they cared for and supported each other, and they welcomed Paul into their family such that he knew them well enough to refer to them by name. Do we know Jesus or as St. Mother Teresa would ask her sisters: “Do you really know the living Jesus, not through books, but by being with him in your hearts?” (Sattler, 20). As we get to know Jesus and experience his love, allow his heart to touch our hearts, we begin to trust him. As we trust him, we spend more time with him and grow in intimacy. As we know Jesus, we come to know his Father and the Holy Spirit, and will begin to know each other better as well.
Dr. Leo Buscaglia, a professor at USC shared a story about how he noticed that one of his students had missed class for a few days. When she did not return the following week, he asked her classmates about her whereabouts, and no one knew where she was. He then reached out to the dean of students, and she broke the tragic news to Dr. Buscaglia that she had taken her life.
He was horrified not only by her death but even more by the fact that no one in the class knew anything about her. He then began to teach a course simply titled, “Love Class 101” in which his students came together to learn about building relationships with one another. He was doing what Lois, Eunice, Timothy, and Paul were doing, what faith communities and families are called to do, what we as human beings are called to do: to be loved by God and to love one another.
We can help to shift the tide of growing anxiety, confusion, isolation, loneliness, and division when we make a commitment to spending quiet time with Jesus. As we receive his love, we have something to share. We will care, be more present, communicate and listen, be more understanding and patient, support, and empower one another. In other words, when we are willing to be still long enough to experience God’s love, we will love God in return with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and then we will be better at loving our neighbor as ourselves.
Photo: Blast from past, my teaching days at Cardinal Newman HS. Many fond memories of my teaching years come to mind that still bring me joy.
Sattler, Fr. Wayne. Remain in Me and I in You: Relating to God as a Person, not an Idea. Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute, 2025.
Spiritual Stepping Stones 