Please read this passage before reading the homily.
I was ordained 58 years ago, and I have only seen one person sin in all that time. I have not seen more than one person sinning. I have only seen myself sinning, no one else.
The author of this letter to Timothy speaks of Paul as a blasphemer and a violent persecutor oof the Church. On the other hand. This violent persecutor received mercy from God and began to believe in Christ.
The author makes excuses for Paul claiming he acted out or ignorance. Moreover, Christ came into the world to save sinners, and if God could save Paul from his sins, then God could save all the rest of the sinners. If Paul were not a sinner, he could not have been saved by Christ, since Christ came into the world to save sinners, not saints.
When the other sinners see what God did with Paul, forgiving all his sins, the other sinners will be converted and received forgiveness of their sins. The forgiveness of Paul’s sins calls us to receive the same grace from God, which is the gift of eternal life.
The mercy of God through Christ leads the author to bless the “King of ages, the immortal, the invisible and the only God with glory and honor for all ages of ages.
When we know that God has forgiven our sins, we respond by blessing God, saying, “God has reconciled the world to himself through Christ, and has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation.”