JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE YOUNG; LET NO MAN DESPISE YOUR YOUTH
Smitten By Faith Issue # 000070 August 19th 2023
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
St. Paul ( 1 Timothy 4:12).
Above : St. Paul writing his Epistle to the Ephesians. In this poignant artwork, Paul’s beloved young student Timothy is sitting by him- diligently learning. Dated circa 1890, this is an engraving believed to be an illustration for Cassell’s Illustrated Family Bible, Superior Edition of the New Testament (Cassell, Petter and Galpin, c 1880).
The above quote from the Letter of St. Paul the Evangelist to his disciple Timothy is well-known. At that time, Timothy was only very young so when Paul asked him to take up the responsibility to go out alone and preach to the Gentiles, one can only surmise that Timothy must have felt daunted by the responsibility. How could he – so untrained and young – fill the shoes of this eloquent defender of the Christian faith, this giant missionary who strode the world like a colossus. However, in this exhortation to his beloved disciple Timothy, Paul wants to give Timothy confidence in spite of his young age. He assures Timothy and tells him to let no man despise him just for his youth. Paul was already an ‘old’ man of sixty years and had been preaching for decades when he met the very young, well-educated, personable but shy and timid Timothy whose grandmother Lois and mother Eunice were both Jewish and father, Greek. Paul saw that Timothy was an exceptional teenager when he first met him. In 2 Timothy 1:5, Paul wrote, “ For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois , and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that is in you as well”. There was no doubt that Paul was very impressed by the young man whom he converted, taught and called to discipleship.
Above : Rembrandt (1606-1669) was one of the greatest artists of the Dutch golden age. This oil on canvas shows the child Timothy with his grandmother Lois; The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
And so, Timothy took up his calling and it was this same Timothy who, in spite of his physical frailty, later became the poised and assertive Bishop of Ephesus whose contribution to the growth of the early Christian church was enormous. Today, St. Timothy is much venerated as an apostle, saint and martyr by not only the Catholic and Anglican Churches but also the Eastern Orthodox Church. Timothy travelled far and wide across the Roman Empire and Asia Minor at first with Paul, his beloved mentor and teacher and then later, on his own. Paul loved Timothy as a son and taught him well. In fact, St. Timothy is known as the co-writer of some of Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians, Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. In Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, Paul paid a fitting tribute to his young disciple Timothy : "I have no one like him". And, close to the end of his life, when Paul was in a Roman prison awaiting his death and martyrdom, Timothy was one of those Paul asked to see for a final time. As the Bishop of Ephesus, Timothy lived until his eighties but, when he tried to stop a procession worshipping a pagan God, he was brutally stoned to death by an angry mob.
[ Editor’s Note : You can read all about the impact of St. Paul the Evangelist in SMITTEN BY FAITH, Issue # 00057 ‘ Go Gently Among My Friends’ dated 17th February 2023 ]
Right : George de la Tour ( 1593-1652), Joseph the Carpenter, Oil on Canvas ; Louvre Museum, Paris. In this painting you can see the young boy Jesus helping his ‘father’ Joseph at his carpentry work. The boy is bright-eyed and holding up a candle to light the space for Joseph to work. Both are deep in concentration. A touching rendition of the young Jesus.
Left : Alonso Cano ( 1601-1667), The Death of Joseph, Oil on Canvas; Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. In this poignant sombre painting, you can see Mary quietly weeping on the pillow of her dying husband. The young man Jesus is softly comforting the dying Joseph who is listening intently to him. Overhead we see the cherubs and angels waiting to welcome Joseph to the Gates of Heaven.
Above : Paolo VERONESE ( 1528-1588); Christ Among the Doctors in the Temple; Oil on Canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain. In this painting, look where the young Jesus is sitting – high up on top of the stairs in the centre of a crowd of learned doctors and scholars who look on amazed as the young Jesus uses his tiny little fingers to enumerate his arguments.( ( You can read more in Chapter Six of ‘Millennials Meet Mary’)
In seeing the potential of the young Timothy, St. Paul followed the clear example of Jesus himself. After the death and resurrection of Jesus, when Paul went out to preach to the Gentiles, beyond the borders of Judea and Galilee, his growing multitude of non-Jewish disciples included not just men and women but also remarkably – many young people. And, just like Jesus, Paul nurtured them and made them worthy disciples too. He fully believed that especially the young with their pure hearts were fully capable of understanding the message and the Word of God.
“The greatest among you must become like the youngest.”
(Luke 22:26).
“Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.”
( Ecclesiastes 11:9)
Above : Heinrich Hofmann (1824–1911), ‘Christ and the Rich Young Ruler’; Riverside Church, New York.
BIBLICAL YOUTHS
Centre : The priest Eli and the boy, Samuel in the Temple Tabernacle ; John Singleton Copley (1780)
Left : The great Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio painted ‘David and the Head of Goliath’ circa 1610; oil on canvas; Borghese Gallery & Museum, Rome
Right : Ruth in the Fields, oil on canvas painted in 1876 by the Merle Hugues, a French realist artist; Private collection
Samuel
Look at the Bible and you will see how many young people featured in the Old Testament. For example, the great Prophet Samuel (ca. 1056-1004 B.C.) who was the last judge of Old Testament Israel and the first of the line of prophets after Moses, was also known as ‘the boy who listened to God’s voice’. Samuel had been offered to the temple as a boy. So he was staying at the temple when at the age of 12, he was awakened 3 times by someone calling out his name. Each time, he ran to the high priest Eli when he heard this voice. Samuel's eagerness to respond was undeniable. But, the priest Eli said it wasn't he who called. So ‘who’ was this voice ? Suddenly the priest realised it must have been God calling out to Samuel. So Eli told Samuel to respond to God directly – next time - when he called again. Which was exactly what God did and the eager Samuel also responded – but this time, Samuel spoke directly to God.
David
Later, it was this same Samuel – but now all grown up and a great prophet and judge who chose a very young David who later became the greatest King of Israel. Samuel chose David while he was still a mere boy looking after his flock of sheep because Samuel said that while “man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” ( 1 Samuel 16:6-13).
In Issue # 00060 dated April 1st 2023 of Smitten By Faith entitled ‘Divine Songs of the Heart – Reaching Out to God’, I wrote about the incredibly beautiful psalms written by the great King David. I wrote, “ …Aside from David’s exploits in killing Goliath, saving the Kingdom of Israel and then ruling as the King of Israel for forty years, David wrote and sang so many psalms that he is also known as the ‘Sweet Singer of Israel’”.
Ruth
Ruth is an example of how God chooses a young woman because of her resourcefulness, initiative and absolute loyalty. Ruth was beautiful young Moabite woman, a foreigner who when her Jewish husband died in the famine refused to abandon her Jewish mother-in-law, Naomi. So instead of returning to the safety of her own country of Moab, Ruth stayed faithfully by Naomi’s side travelling with her to Bethlehem through the many adversities that follow; two women alone and defenceless through every sort of trouble. One day, while working in the fields belonging to the rich landowner, Boaz, Ruth was rewarded for her loyalty when Naomi showed her how to win the love of Boaz. They married and their son Obed was to become the grandfather of the great King David. In the book of Ruth, there is this wonderful passage from Ruth to Naomi about loyalty and love :
“Do not press me to leave you
or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
Where you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die
There I will be buried.
May the Lord do thus and so to me
And more as well
If even death parts me from you.”
( The Book of Ruth 1: 16-17)
THE VIRGIN MARY
Left : Frederico Barocci 1535-1612- The Annunciation; Oil on Canvas. See how the artist paints the radiance on Mary’s face and the Angel Gabriel kneeling down in obeisance before the mother of the Son of God.
Right : Bartoleme Esteban Murillo ( 1617-1682)- The Annunciation; Oil on Canvas; Museo del Prado, Madrid.
And finally, we save the best for last – THE VIRGIN MARY - the young woman who answered ‘yes – thy will be done ‘ ( in Latin, the ‘fiat’ ) to the Angel Gabriel, the messenger from God that she was to be the mother of the Son of God, the event known as the ‘Annunciation’ or the Announcement. The Annunciation was the most fundamental, earth-shaking and glorious event in the biblical world which changed the course of history and saved humanity. In the Frederico Barocci painting above, you can see the Angel Gabriel, the finest of God’s celestial messengers bowing low and kneeling before this young girl, Mary who was filled with awe – seeing the Angel Gabriel and hearing his greeting : “ Hail Mary, full of Grace. Blessed art thou among women !” And, following further exchanges of words between the Angel and Mary, we have Mary’s famous acquiescence as she now bowed to the Angel and said , “ Behold the handmaid of the Lord; Be it done unto me according to thy word.” With these few words, this young girl from Nazareth “…allowed the miracle of the Son of God to come to earth and become human – incarnate in the flesh – and later to suffer, be crucified and die – for the salvation of the world.” ( Chapter Three of ‘Millennials Meet Mary’ ).
Long prophesized in the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament as a young Virgin to be born without original sin who would be filled with the grace of God and bear his son, Mary of Nazareth was born around 23-20 BCE. Her parents, Joachim and Anne knew that Mary was no ordinary child and presented Mary from a very young age to live in the Temple of Jerusalem until she was around 12 years. In the magnificent painting by Titian below, you can almost feel the energy and aura of Mary, this amazing little girl of maybe 3 years old walking with incredible poise and maturity up the stairs towards the inner sanctuary of the Temple. Did she already know then about her ultimate destiny – to be the mother of the Son of God ?
Left : The Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple by Tiziano Vercelli ( TITIAN) 1488-1576. This magnificent painting dominates the entire wall of the Scuola Grande di Sante Maria della Carita which is now part of the Accademia Gallery and Fine Arts Academy in Venice.
Right : Detail from the same painting – see how Mary as a very tiny child ascends the temple steps – alone and unafraid.
Right : Sandro Botticelli ( 1445-1510) -Madonna of the Magnificat; Tempera on Wood in circular form; Uffizi Gallery, Florence. This beautiful circular painting by the great Renaissance artist Botticelli portrays the Virgin Mary crowned by two angels as she is writing the beautiful words of the Magnificat.
Left : Detail of Mary’s face from the painting.
NO NEED FOR ROCK BANDS IN CHURCH
Just 2 weeks ago at the beginning of August 2023, World Youth Day was celebrated in Lisbon. Since its inception in 1985 by Pope John Paul II, World Youth Day has been held – every few years- in various cities all over the world - Buenos, Aires, Santiago de Compostela, Denver, Paris, Panama, Rio de Janeiro, Manila - to name but a few – with huge crowds of hundreds of thousands and some millions of young people attending. In 1995 at World Youth Day in Manila, the crowds of young people numbered 5 million at the final mass. That was record-breaking indeed. These numbers tell us that young people want to change the world ; they want a better world and they want to make a difference. ‘Millennials Meet Mary’ was launched in 2020 at the Vatican Museum. I wanted to write a biography of the Virgin Mary from the perspective of young people. So, rather than ask art historians to comment on the more than 80 magnificent artworks about the Virgin Mary in the book, I asked millennials to provide their commentaries. I asked 80 millennials ( with different backgrounds and different religions ) from 46 countries to reflect on the individual artworks I personally selected for them. I did not wish to have learned academic commentaries. Instead, I wanted them to describe and reflect on particular aspects of the Virgin Mary’s story and how the life of Mary resounds with their own personal lives; their hopes and fears. What was very clear from reading these 80 commentaries was that the life of the Virgin Mary in 23 BCE is even more relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago as she continues to give insight, courage and inspiration to the young people of the world.
This year’s World Youth Day, when Pope Francis literally rocked into Lisbon on his wheelchair, his face radiated his joy and energy; he was in his element because he was with young people. He loves young people and I am reminded of his beautiful encyclical in 2019, ‘Christus Vivit’ which he wrote for young people ; when he invited us to consider the life of Jesus Christ as a young person. The Pope wrote, “…contemplate the young Jesus as presented in the Gospels, for he was truly one of you, and shares many of the features of your young hearts.” According to Pope Francis in his Encyclical, young Christians are the “now of God”; not passive recipients of the teachings of the church and helping “ …to enrich what the Church is and not only what she does. They are her present and not only her future.”
No, we do not need rock bands in church to draw the young. Youths don't need this. Those with God in their hearts come to church for the sense of the sacred, peace, love and forgiveness. As Pope Francis said at World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon - Jesus is for everyone : “TODOS TODOS TODOS “ !
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