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Tuesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church
Titus 2:1–8, 11–14
Saint Paul tells Titus:
“The grace of God has appeared.”
That appearance is Jesus Christ.
In Him, God’s grace became visible.
Jesus came into the world to bring salvation to all.
But Paul also speaks about another appearance.
We await
“the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
So Christian life stands between two appearances.
Christ has come in grace.
Christ will come in glory.
Between these two appearances stands the Cross.
Paul says that Jesus
“gave himself for us.”
He did not save us from a distance.
He gave Himself.
He entered our darkness.
He carried our sin.
He offered His life to redeem us.
Redeem us from what?
Paul says:
from all lawlessness.
Lawlessness is a life that refuses God.
A heart that does not want to be guided.
A way of living that says:
I decide what is good.
I decide what is true.
I belong only to myself.
Christ came to free us from that slavery.
But He did more.
Paul says He purified us.
Sin does not only bind us.
It also stains us.
It leaves marks on the heart.
It bends our desires.
It weakens our love.
It makes us less free than we think.
Christ cleanses us.
This cleansing begins in baptism.
There we are washed.
There we are made new.
There we begin to belong to Christ.
But why did Christ redeem us and cleanse us?
Paul gives the answer:
so that we might be His own people,
“eager to do what is good.”
We are not only being forgiven.
We are being changed.
Christ does not save us so that we can return to the same old life.
He saves us so that we can become a people who live differently.
Everyone has a way to make the Gospel visible through love that becomes action.
The good we are called to do is not always dramatic.
It may be patience at home.
Faithfulness in work.
Care for the weak.
Forgiveness after injury.
Truth spoken without hatred.
Service without applause.
Each generation of Christians must ask:
What good works has God prepared for us today?
While we wait for Christ’s return, we do not wait passively.
We live as people who have been redeemed.
We live as people who have been cleansed.
We live as people who belong to Christ.
Grace has appeared.
Glory will appear.
And between grace and glory, we are called to do God’s will.
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Mark
Year of Mark - Get it from Amazon
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Content License
© 2025 Krakus.
Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
(Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial).