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A Word to the “Young”
The first reading from today’s Liturgy is from the first letter to Timothy. The author of the letter (traditionally attributed to Paul) is addressed to Timothy, a newly ordained person who is leading the church in Ephesus.
Timothy is encouraged to trust in his gifts and to minister faithfully to the community. This passage is packed with all sorts of gems to ponder. Two in particular struck me:
Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I arrive, give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhorting, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift that is in you … (1 Timothy 4:12-13)
This passage reminds me of a chapter in the Rule of Benedict (Saint Benedict’s book of instructions for monks living in community):
Whenever any important business has to be done
in the monastery,
let the Abbot call together the whole community
and state the matter to be acted upon.
Then, having heard the brethren’s advice,
let him turn the matter over in his own mind
and do what he shall judge to be most expedient.
The reason we have said that all should be called for counsel
is that the Lord often reveals to the younger what is best. (Rule of Benedict 3)
It can sometimes be tough for young people or “the new hire” or “the new kid on the block” to take a leadership role. They may be criticized or ignored for not knowing the ropes or having enough experience or whatever. What I appreciate about the passage from Timothy is that young people (and all of us for that matter) are encouraged to not let others use our youth as a reason to not listen to us or to not be open to our abilities.
The flip side of the coin is “do not neglect the gift that is in you.” Hmmm. Do not neglect the gift that is in you. That is a statement worth pondering. I find it almost more challenging than the first part of the passage from 1 Timothy. What does this passage mean to you? What might that mean in your own life?
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Join us LIVE today at Noon Central Time (UTC-5) for Praying with the Sisters podcast where we’ll be praying with this passage from Scripture. More info at http://anunslife.org/live.
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I too heard this reading in Mass today and was deeply moved. Sometimes people feel that their gifts are not worthy. They aren’t the best singers, the best writers, etc. and therefore they do not want to share with others the gifts God has graciously bestowed upon them. Is this not a form of pride? Would not the humble thing to do be to share our gifts to praise God and to help our neighbor? I am sometimes guilty of not wanting to share my gifts. Not because I feel that they are not worth sharing, but because I get nervous and fear that I won’t perform well and that I will have disappointed my family, teachers, friends, etc. Recently only using my gifts to praise God and help others has taken my fear and nervousness away. Let’s all use our own special talents and gifts in the way that God intended us to use them. Have a great day.
It dawned on me the other day that we hear, as young people, “you can do anything you set your mind to…” but that it doesn’t mean anything until you have gone and done things that you never thought possible.
Like so many things, words like this to young people are not necessarily wasted, but not understood. I know now, as a 40-odd (yes, very odd) year old… that what it really means is to go and poke at all sorts of things and see what makes you most happy. Even if it doesn’t make sense. Let yourself roam… don’t neglect the parts that make you fulfilled and happy… Do look at your talents – as strange as they maybe – and attempt anything you want. Who would have known that my Chemical penchant for organizing would help students from all over Washington and Oregon get the education they need… Does that make sense? no… but that is the beauty of being able to recognize the gifts that have been given.
In religious life we reckon age from the day we enter so that regardless of biological age, the youngest is whomever has entered the most recently. I was actually thinking about some of this with regards to our novices and how much of a gift they are to our community with their questions and with their different backgrounds. They challenge us to live more deeply our vocation and at times to re-examine our previous ways of doing things. I’m not suggesting that everything a novice says leads to change in the community—that would be inappropriate. However, I think that sometimes the youngest do forget that even as those who are “older” are teaching them about what it means to be a religious, we older ones are also learning from them.