Monday of the
Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
(I Thessalonians 1:1-5.8b-10; Matthew 23:13-22)
Humanists have lamented how letter-writing is slipping
into oblivion. With the advent of email
people no longer take time to gather thoughts, feelings and desires in a single
discourse. If this form of writing had
not existed two thousand years ago, the Church would be deprived of much of the
New Testament as we know it. Paul’s First
Letter to the Thessalonians, from which today’s first reading is taken has this
literary form. It also is the oldest document
of the New Testament.
In the passage Paul encourages the Thessalonians by
congratulating them for their faith. He supports
their belief by saying that he has spoken of it to others. Finally, he emphasizes the election of the
Thessalonians as followers of Christ. He
tells them that they no longer worship powerless idols but the living God.
Whether or not we write letters, we should tell others of
our experience of faith. It is not a
private matter but the means of salvation for the whole world. We want to say how faith gives us both
support in trial and a rule of life. Our
messages may not reach millions like the apostle Paul’s. But they may provide critical help top those
whom we especially love.
