Keep the Deposit

But it is worth while to explain the whole of that passage of the apostle more fully: “O Timothy, guard the deposit, avoiding profane novelties of words.” [a]

“O!” The cry shows foreknowledge as well as love. For he mourned in advance over the errors he foresaw. Who is the Timothy of today, if not either the universal church in general, or, in particular, the whole body of prelates, who ought either to possess a complete knowledge of religion themselves or to pass it on to others? What does “Guard the deposit” mean? “Guard it” because of thieves, because of enemies, so that while men sleep they may not sow weeds over the good wheat that the Son of Man had sown in his field. “Guard the deposit.” What is “the deposit”? It is what has been entrusted to you, not what you have thought up yourself: a matter not of cleverness but of learning; not of private adoption but of public tradition; a matter brought to you, not put forward by you, in which you are bound to be not an author but a keeper, not a teacher but a disciple, not a leader but a follower. “Guard the deposit.” Keep the talent of the catholic faith unharmed and unadulterated. What has been entrusted to you, let it stay in your keeping, let it be handed on by you. You have received gold; give gold in return. Do not substitute one thing for another. Do not shamelessly put lead or brass in place of gold. Give real gold, not counterfeit.

O Timothy! O priest! O interpreter! O teacher! If the divine gift has equipped you with natural ability, with skill, with learning, be a Bezalel of the spiritual tabernacle. Engrave the precious gems of divine doctrine, set them accurately, adorn them skillfully, add splendor, grace and beauty. What was formerly believed, though imperfectly grasped, let it be clearly understood through your explanation. Let later generations welcome, understood through your explanation, what antiquity revered without understanding. Yet teach the same truths you have learned, so that, though you speak in a new way, what you say is not new.