Please read the passage before the homily:
We begin the first letter to Timothy. It is the first of three letters to Timothy and Titus, Paul’s co-workers. It is first in size, but not necessarily in chronology. Size often determined placement in the books of the Bible.
It is important to remember that during the writing of the epistles, the Roman emperors were looked upon as lords of the earth. By naming Christ as the Lord, the author is putting the emperor in his place. The author acknowledges Jesus as the one Lord. This is true here and in the other works of Paul.
Often in opening segments of Paul’s letters, he would give thanks to God for the way the people have accepted the gospel. Here, however, Paul gives thanks to God for God’s mercy towards himself, Paul. He calls himself a blasphemer and a persecutor whom God has given a large amount of grace for the work that God has accomplished in Paul.
Now it is we who are writing the letter to Timothy. For what are we thanking God because of God’s work in us? What in our life has been arrogance, persecution, or blasphemy? How has God corrected our attitudes and behavior so as to enable us to a source of blessing for others? This is not an idle question because it is only God who in mercy has called us out of darkness into God’s own wonderful light? We cannot thank ourselves for what we are; we can only thanks God with the Lord Jesus Christ. In doing so, We are remembering that only Jesus Christ is our Lord, and nobody else in the world is great enough to claim that title.