That persecution has been going on now for nearly twelve months.  Many have already given their lives for the Faith, and now it is St Paul’s turn.  Of all the old friends who had accompanied him to Rome, Luke alone remains.

Some have been martyred, others are planting the Church in the provinces of the Empire, others have deserted.  Among the latter is Demas, who was with the Apostle during his first imprisonment, but has now forsaken him, lured away by the prospect of easy money in the great commercial city of Thessalonica.  But Paul the aged, the prisoner of the Lord, is not alone.  He has in Luke one who is loyal to the last, a man who will not quit.

The evening of the Paul’s life has come and his ministry nears its close.  But he still has one last letter to write – to Bishop Timothy, giving him his final directions and urging him to come with all speed.  The text of this letter is one of the treasures of the Church, dictated in the prison cell to St Luke who must have written it down with a great ache in his heart.