Word to the Wise
Monday, August 25, 2025 - 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]
St. Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians is probably the earliest in age of the New Testament literature. It reflects the enthusiasm and faith of his earliest preaching. The words above come from the opening paragraph of the letter. Paul had received a "debriefing" on the state of the community in Thessalonica from Silvanus and Timothy, whom he had sent to follow up on his initial efforts to preach the gospel in Greece. He wrote to encourage them to persevere in the face of persecution and trials.
What stands out in these first words is the connection between the message and the messenger. The new-found faith of the Thessalonian community was based not simply on the content of the message, but also on the faith and conviction of the preachers - Paul, Silvanus and Timothy. The entire connection is the work of the Holy Spirit which enables both the message and messenger to connect with the audience which experiences both.
Congregations from the very beginning have benefited or suffered depending on the oratorical skills of the preacher, but the message can be enabled or inhibited by the personal life and demeanor of the preacher outside the pulpit. St. Dominic recognized this connection in founding the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). The message to the would-be missionary is a simple one: PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH. AMEN.