22 January 2011

St. Timothy (January 24)

Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.  So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers.                                                 Act 16:1-5 (see also I Timothy 6:11-16 and
Matt 24: 42-47)

Hymns:  All My Hope on God is Founded- 1 Tim 6:17 (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #203)
               By All Your Saints in Warfare LSB #517:1, 11, 3
St. Timothy, 5th c. Basilica of Paul outside the Walls
Sts. Timothy and Novatus, 16th c.
Timothy and his Grandmother. 1648. Rembrandt.
Timothy's Stoning unknown

Modern Icon of St. Timothy
Baptism and Ordination of St. Timothy, 11th c. (damaged)

Found no (acceptable) coloring pages, so I will have my kids draw Timothy either with his grandmother or assisting Paul.  I plan on focusing on Timothy as a pastor, and talking to the kids about what a pastor does (preaches God's word, baptizes and communes, speaks God's forgiveness to us, takes care of all the people in the church).

My husband and I will raise a toast to St. Timothy after the kids are asleep ("No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments").

Reading through the Timothies tonight, I realized how frequently Paul exhorts the younger pastor--and his parishioners-- to avoid idleness and study [Scripture] often.  I am so thankful for a faithful pastor who studies diligently and is eager to teach his flock, even while he works long hours.  I am thankful for his wife, who sacrifices many an evening with her husband for the sake of the church.  Consider sending off an email to your pastor on Monday, thanking him for all he does for your spiritual and eternal welfare.

I have ordered a bunch of liturgical literature, and cookbooks, and out-of-print, pre-Vatican II books that specialize in celebrating the church year in the home (many thanks for your suggestions).  I hope the material will flesh out this site a bit. I'll be sure to review them for you as I read them.

"Grace be with you. Amen."

5 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for doing this Katy. I am so edified by reading these posts each morning.

    Pardon my ignorance on this subject, but is there a "person" set aside for each day of the year in the Lutheran tradition (or does it originally come from a Catholic source)? I am very interested to learn about these things.

    Thank you.

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  2. Thanks for the kind words and encouragement, Leah! I realized last night that I should post about the historic Lutheran use of the church calendar, and maybe define some terms. Here are a few resources that should help:

    1. Wikipedia gives a good general summary (although it's heavy on the ELCA version--the LCMS does not commemorate Kierkegaard)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liturgical_calendar_(Lutheran)

    2. I am following the calendar laid out in the Lutheran Service Book. The LCMS website has a nice explanation of the the Sundays and Seasons, Feasts and Festivals, and Commemorations.

    http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=864

    3. Pr. Curtis (HRC on the Concordian Sisters blog) has published a Daily Divine Service Missal, where "a saint or other observance is appointed for each day of the year." Maybe in a few years I'll work up to a post for every commemoration in the missal, but for now I'm focusing on the Lutheran Service Book's list. More info on the missal can be found here: http://steadfastlutherans.org/?p=12920

    Hope this helps and satisfies your interest until I can suggest other resources.

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  3. Old timey Lutheran dude Wilhelm Loehe put together a sanctoral calendar that is still mostly normative for Lutheran use (that Curtis guy's missal is based on it and the LSB calendar; there are a few variances between them). You can see it here:

    http://emmanuelpress.us/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/loehe_kirchenbuch.pdf

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  4. Thank you so much, Katy and Rebekah.
    I am getting ready to put up a (very brief and simplified) post within the next few days about our church's "journey to liturgy". Only in the past decade or so have we been discovering our reformational roots. It is very exciting and I appreciate all I have learned from you "Lutheran ladies". You'll never know how excited I was the night I found the CSPP website. (Seriously, Rebekah. I couldn't stop smiling!) In fact now most of the girls in my church read it regularly. Hey, we all need all the help and encouragement we can get, right?!

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  5. Very interested in the books you are reviewing - could you list a few?
    Many thanks,
    Lisa

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