Living in Hope (2nd Sunday of Lent)

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2 Timothy is the last epistle which St. Paul wrote before he was killed by Emperor Nero. In it, he gives his parting words to St. Timothy, who was the first bishop of Ephesus in Asia Minor. At this time, Paul was in prison and awaiting his execution. He realizes that Timothy and other Christians may be experiencing fear or shame, knowing that the Christian movement was being persecuted by the Romans, and that its leaders, Sts. Peter and Paul, were about to die.

In order to encourage these believers, Paul writes to them, encouraging them not to not give in to temptation or to abandon the faith and conform to society’s pressures. The main theme of this passage is that we should be unafraid to bear the hardships that come with being a Christian, because God will strengthen us to bear such trials (v. 8).

The basis of this confidence is the Resurrection of Jesus, and the fact that believers will someday share in that same hope of conquering death if they remain steadfast. This is because our Lord conquered death and made eternal life available to us through the Gospel (v. 10). As he stated in 2 Corinthians 4:14, 16: “he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. … So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

In light of this hope, we live a holy life empowered by God’s grace, living not according to the world’s values, but according to Christ’s. In so doing, we manifest that grace to the world.

J. Luis Dizon