***
1 Thessalonians 1: 1-10
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians
in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
grace to you and peace.
We give thanks to God always for all of you,
remembering you in our prayers,
unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love
and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ,
before our God and Father,
knowing, brothers and sisters loved by God, how you were chosen.
For our Gospel did not come to you in word alone,
but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.
You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake.
In every place your faith in God has gone forth,
so that we have no need to say anything.
For they themselves openly declare about us
what sort of reception we had among you,
and how you turned to God from idols
to serve the living and true God and to await his Son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead, Jesus,
who delivers us from the coming wrath.
The Word of the Lord.
***
***
Bernard Newman was a soldier in World War One who later wrote about his experience.
One story he told was about his stay in a Bulgarian peasant’s home. Throughout his stay, he noticed his host’s daughter constantly sewing a dress together.
“Do you ever tire of all that sewing?” he asked. “Oh no!” she said. “This will be my wedding dress!”
***
She showed Newman that work done out of love isn’t work at all.
***
Like that young girl sewing away at her wedding dress, St. Paul has been weaving the Gospel throughout the known world.
He’s travelled thousands of miles during which he’s been beaten, stoned, imprisoned, and shipwrecked. Yet he shows no signs of slowing down.
In fact, in our first reading, Paul has reached the shores of Greece, where he will begin weaving the Gospel into Europe.
In spite of the exhaustion and danger he faced, how did Paul accomplish so much?
***
Because work done out of love isn’t work at all.
***
That’s the kind of zeal every Christian should desire.
We should all love talking about Jesus, praying to him, living out his teachings, and telling others about what’s unfolding in our parish.
Because work done out of love, it isn’t work at all.
***
St. Paul’s missionary journeys.
***
Image credits: (1) Inc. Magazine (2) The Apostle Paul, Rembrandt (3) Amazon.com