Practice what you preach

Treasures of Our Faith with Deacon Richard Vehige

Today, November 4, as our Church celebrates the Memorial of Charles Borromeo, bishop, we are invited to read and reflect on a passage from the letter of the apostle Paul to Titus (1:7-11; 2:1-8), entitled “The teaching of the Apostle on the qualities and duties of bishops”. Our treasure, which follows, is from a sermon given during the last synod he attended, by Saint Charles, bishop.

St. Charles Borromeo was born at Arona in Lombardy in the year 1538. Although he belonged to the Milanese nobility and was related to the powerful Medici family, Charles desired to devote himself to the Church. Because of his intellectual qualities Charles was entrusted with several important offices connected with the Vatican, and later appointed secretary of state with responsibility for the papal states. At the time Charles was still a layman and a young student. The untimely death of his elder brother brought Charles to a definite decision to be ordained a priest, despite his relatives’ insistence that he marry. Soon after being ordained a priest at age 25, he was made cardinal and bishop of Milan by his uncle, Pope Pius IV. Charles Borromeo was associated with reform. He lived during the time of the Protestant Reformation, and had a hand in the reform of the whole Church during the final years of the Council of Trent. As a true pastor of his flock, he tirelessly promoted Christian life by the reform of his diocese, the convocation of senates, and the promulgation of regulations intended to foster the Church’s mission. He died on November 3, 1584.

Saint Paul’s letter to Titus is the third of the Pastoral Epistles in the New Testament and is addressed to a different co-worker of Paul than are First and Second Timothy. The situation is different, too, for Titus is addressed as the person in charge of developing the church on the large Mediterranean island of Crete, a place Paul had never, according to the New Testament, visited. The tone is closer to that of First Timothy as three topics of church life and structure are discussed: presbyter-bishops, groups with which one must work in the church, and admonitions for conduct based on the grace and love of God that appeared in Jesus Christ. The warmer personal tone of Second Timothy is replaced by emphasis on church office and on living in the society of the day, in which deceivers and heretics abound.