Word to the Wise
Monday, August 23, 2021 - Monday in the 21th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Thess 1:1-5, 8b-10 and Matt 23:13-22]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. [1 Thessalonians] [Note: these scriptures may vary at Dominican locations because of the feast of St. Rose of Lima, OP]
AUGUST 23, ST. ROSE OF LIMA, O.P.
The letters of St. Paul to the community he founded in Thessalonika in Greece are the oldest of the New Testament scriptures! They are meant to encourage the Christian converts there. Paul, himself, had left Thessalonika to avoid persecution because both Jew and Gentile were threatened by his preaching. There will be more about this in the first scriptures during this week. What caught my attention this morning is Paul's gratitude for the life and witness of the Thessalonian Christians and how they had "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."
Each morning, as I sit down to write this reflection, I have in mind the great variety of the "Beloved Congregation" and the many ways in which the Word of God can impact your lives. The same passage can inspire contrasting thoughts. What is humbling to me is your willingness to share my small attempts to help make God's word "living and effective" [Heb. 4:12].
The Word of God has a way of creating a sense of urgency in spreading it far and wide. I began this daily reflection on August 22, 2003. Eighteen years later I still feel the same urgency to share the daily Word of God with anyone who is willing to read this. Please pray for me. AMEN
[Note to the Beloved Congregation. I will be on the Pacific coast of Oregon for a week beginning this Tuesday, Aug.24 until Tues. Aug. 31. So, this reflection will seem to come later in the day for the time zones east of the Pacific Daylight Time zone.}