Bombarded by so many facts every day, it can be challenging to know how much weight to assign each one. Pulled by many commitments, it can be difficult to know where to spend our time. In all this flux, St. Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians offer clarity and hope.
Written to establish the church in faith, hope, and love, these letters present Christ, not as a washed out option, but as the defining reality of life. They challenge us to be, not a collection of isolated or distracted individuals, but a self-sacrificing, engaged community. How? By embracing, not just the content of the gospel, but receiving it in “word and power.” Centuries later, the good news still electrifies and establishes the church in faith, hope, and love.