2025/10/05 SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
- Mike Nall, Project Manager
As a husband, father of two young kids, and employee, I often find myself juggling a lot—school drop-offs, meetings at work, homework help, trying to squeeze in time for exercise or a date-night, and the occasional moment to breathe. In the busy-ness of all this, Paul’s words in his Second Letter to Timothy this Sunday hit home: “Stir into flame the gift of God that you have.”
Paul’s encouragement to Timothy reminds me that faith isn’t a spectator sport. It’s active. Something we stir, tend, and guard.
And that takes intention. It might mean carving out time for prayer even when I am running late or the house is noisy. Or speaking up about my faith in the car after a sports practice or at a family gathering, even if it feels a little awkward. Or the one at which I am working hardest on these days – choosing patience when I’d rather react. It’s easy to let the flame flicker. Life gets busy. Faith can feel routine, like just another box to check. And often, I worry that I will never catch up —at home, at work, in my spiritual life. But Paul’s message isn’t about doing more. It’s about remembering what has already been given. The Spirit of God is in us—not a spirit of guilt or anxiety, “but rather of power and love and self-control.” That’s a promise I need to hear and repeat to myself often, especially on the days when I feel stretched thin or uncertain of what is to come.
As a dad, I think about how my kids, ages 8 and 11, are watching me. Not just when we are praying before dinner, but in how I respond when I’m tired, frustrated, or overwhelmed. I try my best to remember Paul’s virtues – to remember my power to choose to do better, to act with love and self-control.
But I often find myself falling short and needing to ask for forgiveness. Even then, Paul’s letter offers something for me to hold on to. What I love about this passage is that Paul doesn’t tell Timothy to be perfect. He tells him to be faithful. To rely on the Holy Spirit. To remember the gift. That’s something I can do. That’s something I try to encourage those around me to do.
So this week, I’m asking myself:
- Where is my flame flickering?
- How can I stir it back into life?
- What small act of courage, love, or discipline can I offer today?
And I’m praying: Lord, help me live with the Spirit You’ve given me. Let those around me see Your light in me. Let me strive to see Your light in others.