On Titus 2:11–15 and Luke 2:21
by Catechismus Catholicum
“For the grace of God our Savior hath appeared to all men; instructing us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly, and justly, and godly in this world…” (Titus 2:11–12, Douay-Rheims)
“…After eight days were accomplished, that the child should be circumcised: his name was called JESUS, which was called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” (Luke 2:21, Douay-Rheims)
On this fifth day of January, within the gentle octave of the Holy Name of Jesus, the traditional Roman liturgy gives us to meditate on two brief but rich passages: Titus 2:11–15 and Luke 2:21. In the calendar of the traditional Roman Rite, this day is kept as a feria of Christmastide—a quiet continuation of the mysteries of the Incarnation, leading us through the spiritual sweetness of Bethlehem toward the mystery of the Cross, already dimly prefigured in the Circumcision of the Lord.
This reflection, in the spirit of the IV. classis feria and mindful of the doctrinal clarity demanded by the Apostle’s exhortation, will draw upon the wisdom of the Church Fathers to illuminate the profound unity between the grace announced in Titus and the humility shown in the Lord’s Circumcision.
✠ The Grace that Teaches Us (Titus 2:11–15)
St. Paul’s letter to Titus is notably concise and clear, as befits a bishop’s instruction for forming Christian communities in piety. In this passage, he speaks of the grace of God appearing—a reference to the Incarnation. The Fathers recognized in this the manifestation of the Divine Word in flesh. As St. John Chrysostom notes:
“He did not merely bring grace, but He Himself is grace. He appeared, bringing with Him the abundance of salvation and righteousness.”
(Homilies on Titus, II)
This grace does not merely console; it instructs. The Latin word used in the Vulgate is erudiens—teaching, training, forming. In Christ’s coming, man is not merely pardoned, but called to a new way of life: sober, just, godly. St. Ambrose, reflecting on this moral summons, writes:
“Let us learn from the coming of Christ to renounce the vanity of the world. His birth was in poverty, His life in humility, His death in obedience. So must ours be formed.”
(De Officiis, I.42)
Thus, the appearing of grace inaugurates not mere comfort, but a new rule of life—one that detaches the heart from worldly desires and aligns it with the virtues of temperance, justice, and piety.
The Apostle then directs Titus—and us—to await the blessed hope and glorious appearing of Christ, the consummation of the Advent that began at Bethlehem. That appearing is still to come; meanwhile, the Christian is to live as one trained in virtue by grace and expectant of glory.
✠ The Humility of the Circumcision (Luke 2:21)
Turning to the Gospel, we come to the Circumcision of the Lord, which traditionally is celebrated on January 1st but continues to resonate through the Octave. In today’s reading (Luke 2:21), the mystery is recalled with quiet solemnity: the Child is circumcised on the eighth day, according to the Law, and receives the Name JESUS.
Why is this detail placed before us again?
Because in this moment, the Child Jesus, though sinless and divine, submits Himself to the Law He came to fulfill. As St. Augustine reflects:
“He was circumcised as a man, though He was without sin, to show that He came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it.”
(Sermon 370.3)
This moment is not incidental. The circumcision is the first shedding of the Precious Blood, prefiguring Calvary. The naming of Jesus—“God saves”—declares His mission. Thus, on the eighth day, we see the unity of the Incarnation and the Cross.
St. Leo the Great, ever the theologian of Christ’s two natures, writes:
“Though the Son of God existed before all ages, He did not disdain to be circumcised, so that He who had come to fulfill the Law might not seem to despise it.”
(Sermon 33 on the Feast of the Lord’s Circumcision)
✠ The Unity of the Two Readings
Titus and Luke—Apostle and Evangelist—together offer us a vision of the Christian life anchored in grace and patterned after Christ. The grace that has appeared (Titus 2:11) is not abstract; it is the Child of Mary, now named JESUS, who enters into our humanity and leads us by obedience and humility.
To the world, circumcision might seem a strange beginning. But the Fathers saw in it the beginning of the Lord’s passion—a voluntary wounding, a foreshadowing of the Cross. And it is precisely this humility that becomes the schoolmaster for Christian virtue.
As St. Cyril of Jerusalem urges:
“He receives the name Jesus not in vain, for He brings salvation to His people. But His circumcision teaches us that salvation is not without suffering, and that no man enters Heaven without shedding sin.”
(Catechetical Lectures, Lecture 12)
✠ A Final Exhortation
As we keep this quiet day within Christmastide, let us heed St. Paul’s counsel: deny the world, live uprightly, and fix our hope on the return of Christ. And let us contemplate the Circumcised Lord, whose obedience from the manger to the Cross is our pattern and our peace.
Let the Holy Name of JESUS be upon our lips—spoken reverently, prayed constantly, and lived out in the grace that teaches us.
In Nomine Iesu. Amen.