Today's first reading from 2 Timothy reminds us to stir the flame of faith we have in our hearts into action. Our faith can become quiet, almost dormant if we let it, like a cozy fire of dying embers. To keep the flame alive, it needs to be stirred and stoked.
Daily acts of charity, prayer and frequent reception of the sacraments all can stir the faith in our hearts from low to high.
In today's gospel Jesus warns us about potential difficulty in allocating our allegiance between God and state. St. Boniface cast his lot with the Word of God and along with travelling companions met a violent death at the hands of a mob who felt God's Word had no place among them.
St. Justin, martyr is an early saint of the church, having converted from paganism to preach Christianity, even writing theological musings on the pre-existent Logos - "In the beginning was The Word (Logos)" as John's gospel proclaims. For refusing to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods, he was tortured and beheaded along with several like-minded Christians.