Cassiodorus

In his own words on 2 Timothy

• 2 Timothy 1:2

  When writing to Timothy he put at the head of the letter, "To my dearly beloved son," for he had begotten him, not in body but in faith.

  EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 101.29

• 2 Timothy 4:7

  As someone has said, you will scarcely ever find that when a person prays, some empty and external reflection does not impede him, causing the attention which the mind directs on God to be sidetracked and interrupted. So it is a great and most wholesome struggle to concentrate on prayer once begun, and with God's help to show lively resistance to the temptations of the enemy, so that our minds may with unflagging attention strain to be ever fastened on God. Then we can deservedly recite Paul's words: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.

  EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 101.1

• 2 Timothy 4:8

  The holy man demands judgment because he is certain of the Lord's mercy. As Paul has it: "As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the just Judge, will render to me in that day." He walks in his innocence because … he puts his trust in the Lord. The presumption he shows is not in his own powers but in God's generosity.

  EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 25.1