GORVI Jan 22

The people in Ephesus were practicing then

The ancient cult of Artemis: who was

The Greek goddess of fertility and nature.

For her they had built a magnificent temple,

A  masterpiece in marble.

Which had started in the seventh century BCE.

It used to be among the Wonders of the World.

People who came to worship this Geek goddess

Brought gifts of gold and ivory.

They rejoiced and regaled in her name.

They say that that in 356 BCE

A demented man burned the temple down

Wanting to be remembered in history.

But the Artemis cult did not die.

It persisted with vigor even greater.

Uprooting  this ancient  tradition

And replacing it with Christ

Was a major problem for Paul.

This is a fascinating process in history:

The gradual transformation of a society

From one religion to another.

The great-great grandparents of many Christians

Were pagans, just as the ancestors of

Many Turks of our own times

Were Christians and of Greek religion,

And those of many Muslims in the India

And Pakistan were of the Hindu faith.

 Such changes are occurring even in our own times.

Later, in his epistles to Timothy,

Paul urged him to continue to  convert,

Explaining all the obstacles, opposition,

And resistance that he would encounter.

After Paul became a martyr,

Timothy turned to the Evangelist John as guru.

When the latter was exiled from Ephesus,

Timothy became bishop there.  

At last, he was attacked and killed.

The fourth century Eusebius described it thus:

On the 22 of January of the year 97,

Ephesians were celebrating Katagogian,

A festival to honor Artemis.

Timothy, who was strict on these matters,

Had no sympathy for pagan gods,.

He was very upset by what he saw.

He could not stand licentious ribaldry.

In the name of a heathen goddess.

Driven by his righteous zeal,

Impetuously, he tried in vain

to stop the frenzied revelers.

The mob became so furious

His relics were moved to Constantinople

And stoned the godly man to death.

Timothy  became another martyr

Like his master Paul.

Where they were placed along side

Those of St. Luke and St. Andrews