Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops
Liturgical Color: White
Rosary Mysteries: Joyful Mysteries
Daily Readings
First Reading: 2 Timothy 1: 1-8
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, according to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus.
2 To Timothy my dearly beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 I give thanks to God, whom I serve from my forefathers with a pure conscience, that without ceasing, I have a remembrance of thee in my prayers, night and day.
4 Desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy,
5 Calling to mind that faith which is in thee unfeigned, which also dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and in thy mother Eunice, and I am certain that in thee also.
6 For which cause I admonish thee, that thou stir up the grace of God which is in thee, by the imposition of my hands.
7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear: but of power, and of love, and of sobriety.
8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but labour with the gospel, according to the power of God
1 Paulus Apostolus Jesu Christi per voluntatem Dei, secundum promissionem vitæ, quæ est in Christo Jesu,
2 Timotheo carissimo filio: gratia, misericordia, pax a Deo Patre, et Christo Jesu Domino nostro.
3 Gratias ago Deo, cui servio a progenitoribus in conscientia pura, quod sine intermissione habeam tui memoriam in orationibus meis, nocte ac die
4 desiderans te videre, memor lacrimarum tuarum, ut gaudio implear,
5 recordationem accipiens ejus fidei, quæ est in te non ficta, quæ et habitavit primum in avia tua Loide, et matre tua Eunice, certus sum autem quod et in te.
6 Propter quam causam admoneo te ut resuscites gratiam Dei, quæ est in te per impositionem manuum mearum.
7 Non enim dedit nobis Deus spiritum timoris: sed virtutis, et dilectionis, et sobrietatis.
8 Noli itaque erubescere testimonium Domini nostri, neque me vinctum ejus: sed collabora Evangelio secundum virtutem Dei:
Gospel: Mark 3: 22-30
22 And the scribes who were come down from Jerusalem, said: He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of devils he casteth out devils.
23 And after he had called them together, he said to them in parables: How can Satan cast out Satan?
24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
26 And if Satan be risen up against himself, he is divided, and cannot stand, but hath an end.
27 No man can enter into the house of a strong man and rob him of his goods, unless he first bind the strong man, and then shall he plunder his house.
28 Amen I say to you, that all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and the blasphemies wherewith they shall blaspheme:
29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, shall never have forgiveness, but shall be guilty of an everlasting sin.
30 Because they said: He hath an unclean spirit.
22 Et scribæ, qui ab Jerosolymis descenderant, dicebant: Quoniam Beelzebub habet, et quia in principe dæmoniorum ejicit dæmonia.
23 Et convocatis eis in parabolis dicebat illis: Quomodo potest Satanas Satanam ejicere?
24 Et si regnum in se dividatur, non potest regnum illud stare.
25 Et si domus super semetipsam dispertiatur, non potest domus illa stare.
26 Et si Satanas consurrexerit in semetipsum, dispertitus est, et non poterit stare, sed finem habet.
27 Nemo potest vasa fortis ingressus in domum diripere, nisi prius fortem alliget, et tunc domum ejus diripiet.
28 Amen dico vobis, quoniam omnia dimittentur filiis hominum peccata, et blasphemiæ quibus blasphemaverint:
29 qui autem blasphemaverit in Spiritum Sanctum, non habebit remissionem in æternum, sed reus erit æterni delicti.
30 Quoniam dicebant: Spiritum immundum habet.
A Daily Question from the Summa Theologica
Whether before sin sacraments were necessary to man? (Article 2 of 4 of Question 61. Of the Necessity of the Sacraments from the Treatise on the Sacraments)
Objection 1: It seems that before sin sacraments were necessary to man. For, as stated above (A[1], ad 2) man needs sacraments that he may obtain grace. But man needed grace even in the state of innocence, as we stated in the FP, Q[95], A[4] (cf. FS, Q[109], A[2]; FS, Q[114], A[2]). Therefore sacraments were necessary in that state also.
Objection 2: Further, sacraments are suitable to man by reason of the conditions of human nature, as stated above (A[1]). But man’s nature is the same before and after sin. Therefore it seems that before sin, man needed the sacraments.
Objection 3: Further, matrimony is a sacrament, according to Eph. 5:32: “This is a great sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the Church.” But matrimony was instituted before sin, as may be seen in Gn. 2. Therefore sacraments were necessary to man before sin.
On the contrary, None but the sick need remedies, according to Mat. 9:12: “They that are in health need not a physician.” Now the sacraments are spiritual remedies for the healing of wounds inflicted by sin. Therefore they were not necessary before sin.
I answer that, Sacraments were not necessary in the state of innocence. This can be proved from the rectitude of that state, in which the higher (parts of man) ruled the lower, and nowise depended on them: for just as the mind was subject to God, so were the lower powers of the soul subject to the mind, and the body to the soul. And it would be contrary to this order if the soul were perfected either in knowledge or in grace, by anything corporeal; which happens in the sacraments. Therefore in the state of innocence man needed no sacraments, whether as remedies against sin or as means of perfecting the soul.
Reply to Objection 1: In the state of innocence man needed grace: not so that he needed to obtain grace by means of sensible signs, but in a spiritual and invisible manner.
Reply to Objection 2: Man’s nature is the same before and after sin, but the state of his nature is not the same. Because after sin, the soul, even in its higher part, needs to receive something from corporeal things in order that it may be perfected: whereas man had no need of this in that state.
Reply to Objection 3: Matrimony was instituted in the state of innocence, not as a sacrament, but as a function of nature. Consequently, however, it foreshadowed something in relation to Christ and the Church: just as everything else foreshadowed Christ.
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