24 January 2020 | St. Timothy | Menlo Park, Calif.

No two extremes perhaps seem more foreign to one another than kingship and martyrdom, the height of worldly power and the depth of ignoble destitution. Yet Christ unites the two on the cross in His own body, becoming in his self-sacrificing victory our great Martyr-King. What does it take to make a man a king? More than a crown. What does it take to make a man a martyr? More than a sword. Today we dive deep into the life of St. Timothy, apostle and spiritual son of the great St. Paul, who gave his life for Christ at Ephesus. We also look at the character of King Henry VI in Shakespeare’s triad of plays of the same name. Both by their lives propose answers to the question: what is it to live for Christ?

Opening music: “Anima Christi,” composed by Marco Frisina, performed by the Chamber Choir ‘Lege Artis’ at the Basilica of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pszów, Poland, dir. Szymon Staniszewski, 2017. All rights reserved.