Open Flame

2 Timothy 2:8-13

Phrases that spoke to me today:
• Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead
• The word of God is not chained
• For the sake of those who are chosen
• So that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus

Applying the Word to My Life:
Januarius was bishop of Benevento when he traveled to Misenum to visit a deacon named Sosius. According to the old story, Januarius was sitting in church one day as Sosius proclaimed the Gospel when he saw something no one else seemed to notice: flames surrounding the young deacon's head like a crown.

Januarius took it as a sign that something was coming.

He was right.

Not long afterward, during the persecution of Christians under Diocletian, Sosius was arrested and thrown into prison. Januarius could have stayed safely in Benevento and prayed for him from a distance. Instead, he went to see his friend.

That visit got him arrested too.

Soon several other Christians had been swept up with them, and the governor was left with a group of prisoners who refused to give up their faith. Tradition says he finally had them taken to the amphitheater and exposed to wild animals, but the animals wouldn't attack them. So the governor abandoned the spectacle and chose something much more reliable.

He had them beheaded.

There's a song I like by Unspoken called "Bury the Workmen." It's not about Januarius, but it makes an argument his story fits almost perfectly: you can get rid of the person carrying the message, but the message continues.

Paul had already figured that out from a prison cell.

He tells Timothy to remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, and then points to his own chains. Paul is locked up "like a criminal," but he immediately adds the part his captors apparently hadn't considered: "The word of God is not chained."

They could chain Paul's body — lock him behind a door, keep him from a crowd, eventually kill him. But the Gospel was already somewhere else. He had preached it to Timothy, who would preach it to someone else. Churches had heard it. Letters were being copied. People Paul would never meet were already repeating words he had spoken years earlier.

That's why the rest of the passage matters. Paul says he endures all of it "for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus." His suffering isn't about proving how tough he is. There are people on the other side of his faithfulness.

Januarius probably understood that too. Visiting Sosius didn't make the persecution disappear. Refusing to deny Christ didn't save Januarius's life. From the governor's perspective, the execution solved the problem.

Except it didn't.

Nearly seventeen centuries later, Christians still say Januarius's name. In Naples, a vial containing his blood is brought out several times each year, and most famously around his feast day, the dark substance inside liquefies before the people gathered there.

The Church has treasured that sign for centuries.

And there's something beautifully fitting about it.

A governor once thought spilling Januarius's blood would end his witness. Centuries later, people still gather around that same blood and talk about Christ.

The word of God was never his to chain.

Most of us will never stand in an amphitheater because we are Christians. Our opportunities to deny or proclaim Christ are usually much less dramatic, which may be why they are easier to miss.

Someone asks what we believe and we soften the answer enough that nobody can really tell. A conversation turns toward faith and we decide this probably isn't the moment. Someone makes a joke and it seems easier to smile than to let anyone know that this actually matters to us.

None of those moments feels like denying Christ before a governor. Usually it just feels like avoiding an awkward conversation.

But someone is always on the other side of our faithfulness too.

Maybe there's a friend who has never heard anyone explain why they actually believe. Maybe there's a son who is watching whether faith matters when it costs something. Maybe there's someone quietly struggling who needs to discover that another person in the room believes in Christ enough to say His name without embarrassment.

We don't control what happens after that. Paul couldn't control where the Gospel went once he handed it on, and Januarius couldn't know who would still be telling his story seventeen centuries later.

Our part is smaller.

We just have to make sure the word doesn't stop with us.

My Response for Today:
Today I'll speak openly about my faith when the opportunity naturally comes.

ABOUT ST. JANUARIUS

• Name: St. Januarius
• Lived: 3rd century – c. 305, Benevento and Pozzuoli, Italy (near Naples)
• Feast Day: September 19
• Patron of: Naples, blood banks, volcanic eruptions
• Title: Bishop and Martyr
• Read more: Franciscan Media, Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent)