Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8b-10
Greetings
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[1] Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians' Fidelity
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[2] We give thanks to God always for you all, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, [3] remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. [4] For we know brethren beloved by God, that he has chosen you; [5] for our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
[8b] But your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. [9] For they themselves report concerning us what a welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, [10] and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
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Commentary:
1. The heading is in keeping with the style of the period: it identifies the writer and the addressees and contains a greeting. The names of Silvanus and Timothy, co-workers of St Paul, appears alongside his own. The heading is affectionate in tone but it is not the kind of opening typical of a simple family letter. This is an official letter, which is why two witnesses vouch for its content (in line with legal requirements: cf. Deut 17:6).
As in certain other letters (cf. 2 Thess, Phil, Philem), St Paul does not describe himself as an Apostle; the mention of his name is enough to convey his authority. Silvanus is the same person as Silas whom Acts describes as "prophet" and one of the "leading men among the brethren" in Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15 :22, 32); here the Latin transcription of his name is used. He had worked alongside St Paul in the evangelization of Thessalonica, so he would have been well known to the believers in that city (cf. Acts 17:4). Timothy was son of Gentile father and a Jewish mother (his mother was a Christian convert); Paul gave him instruction in the faith when he passed through Lystra during his second missionary journey, and ever since then he had always been a faithful helper of the Apostle. When St Paul was writing this letter, Timothy had just arrived in Corinth from Thessalonica with good reports of the spiritual health of that church (cf. 1 Thess 3:6).
The letter is addressed to "the church of the Thessalonians". The Greek word ekklesia, meaning "assembly, gathering of the people", was used from the apostolic age onwards to describe the Church, the new people of God. St Thomas Aquinas used this verse for his definition of the Church as "the assembly of the faithful brought together in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ, through faith in the Trinity and in the divinity and humanity of Christ" (Commentary on 1 Thess, ad loc.). "All those, who in faith look toward Jesus, the author of salvation and the principle of unity and peace, God had gathered together and established as the Church, that it may be for each and everyone the visible sacrament of this saving unity" (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 9).
"Grace to you and peace": a favorite greeting of St Paul's, expressing the wish that they will attain the fullness of heavenly good things. See the note on Rom 1:7).
[Note on Romans 1:7. "Called to be saints": literally "called saints". This is not just a way of speaking: St Paul really is saying that Christians are "called" in the same kind of way as the Israelites were so open called through Moses (Num 10:14). In the Christians' case, the calling is to form the new people of God, one of whose characteristic features is holiness. Basing itself on this and other Pauline texts, the Second Vatican Council has this to say: "As Israel according to the flesh which wandered in the desert was already called the Church of God (cf. 2 Ezra 13:1; cf. Num 20:4; Deut 23:1 ff), so too, the new Israel, which advances in this present era in search of a future and permanent city (cf. Heb 13:14), is called also the Church of Christ (cf. Mt. 16:18) [...]. The followers of Christ, called by God not in virtue of their works but by his design and grace, and justified in the Lord Jesus, have been made sons of God in the baptism of faith and partakers of the divine nature, and so are truly sanctified" (Lumen Gentium, 9 and 40).
This is in fact the basis of the "universal call to holiness". All Christians, by virtue of their Baptism, should live in line with what that means: they are called to be saints and their whole life should be a pursuit of holiness: "In baptism, our Father God has taken possession of our lives, has made us share in the life of Christ, and has given us the Holy Spirit" (J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By, 128). "We are deeply moved, and our hearts profoundly shaken, when we listen attentively to that cry of St Paul: 'This is the will of God, your sanctification' (1 Thess 4:3). Today, once again, I set myself this goal and I also remind you and all mankind: this is God's Will for us, that we be saints" (St J. Escriva, Friends of God, 294).
The formula "grace and peace" seems to be St Paul's own: it is a combination of the usual Greek greeting at the start of letters and the Hebrew shalom (peace). The Apostle uses this double greeting very often (cf., for example, 1 Cor 1:3 2 Cor 1:2; Gal 1:3; Eph 1:2; etc). It is a Christian greeting, referring to the gifts the Holy Spirit brings us. Jewish and pagan greetings wished people material prosperity or good fortune; the Apostle's are wishes for something higher—divine benevolence, which comes in the form of the gift of sanctifying grace and the virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit, and interior peace, which derives from reconciliation with God brought about by Christ. These gifts, according to the Apostle, come to us from God our Father, and from Jesus Christ, the Lord, who is equal to the Father. Thus we see Christian life as being inserted in the intimate life of the Blessed Trinity, for "grace and peace" came from the goodness and mercy of God, by way of the Incarnation of the Word and the Redemption wrought by him.]
3. The spiritual life of the Christian is based on the practice of the theological virtues, for "faith encourages men to do good, charity to bear pain and effort, and hope to resist patiently" (Severian of Gabala, Commentary on 1 Thess, ad loc.).
Faith needs to be reflected in one's conduct, for "faith apart from works is dead" (Jas 2:26). As St John Chrysostom teaches, "belief and faith are proved by works--not by simply saying that one believes, but by real actions, which are kept up, and by a heart burning with love" (Hom. on I Thess, ad loc.).
The service of others for God's sake is a proof of charity. A person who practices this virtue always rises to the occasion and does not try to dodge sacrifice or effort.
Hope is a virtue which "enables one to endure adversity" (St Thomas, Commentary on 1 Thess, ad loc.). St Paul encourages us to rejoice in hope and be patient in tribulation (cf. Rom 12:12), for hope fills the soul with joy and gives it the strength to bear every difficulty for love of God.
4. All men are "beloved by God" and, as St Thomas points out, this is the case "not just in the ordinary sense of having received natural existence from him, but particularly because he has called them to eternal good things" (Commentary on I Thess, ad loc.). Man's last end is happiness, and happiness cannot be found (other than in a relative sense) in wealth, honors, health or sensual satisfaction; it can only be found in knowing and loving God. By raising man to the supernatural order, God gave him a supernatural goal or end, which consists in "seeing God himself, triune and one, as he is, clearly" (Council of Florence, Laetentur Coeli).
Deprived as he was of sanctifying grace on account of original sin and his personal sins, man was unable to attain any end exceeding his natural powers. But God loved us so much that he deigned to enable us "to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son" (Col 1:12-13). Therefore, those who have been given the preaching of the Gospel and the fruits of Redemption through Baptism and the other sacraments are the object of a special divine "choice". This "choice" or election is not the same as "salvation"; it is an initiative on God's part prior to the attainment of salvation. To be saved one must second this action of God by responding freely to grace.
5. St Paul reminds them that what he preached was the "gospel" foretold by the prophets (cf. Is 40:9; 52:7; 60:6; 61:1) and fulfilled by the Incarnation of the Word and by his work of salvation. The Apostle was pressed into service by the Holy Spirit to forward his work of sanctification. The Thessalonians were not won over by mere human words but by the "power" of God, who made those words effective. The term "power" refers not only to miraculous actions but also to the Holy Spirit moving the souls of those who heard Paul's preaching.
It is true that this activity, like all actions of God outside himself, is something done by all three Persons of the Blessed Trinity; but in the language of Scripture and of the Church it is customary "to attribute to the Father those works of the Divinity in which power excels; to attribute to the Son, those in which wisdom excels; and to the Holy Spirit, those in which love excels" (Leo XIII, Divinum Illud Munus, 5).
In the early years of the Church the proclamation of the Gospel was often marked by special graces of the Holy Spirit, such as prophecy, miracles, or the gift of tongues (cf. Acts 2:8). This profusion of gifts made it clear that the messianic era had begun (cf. Acts 2:16), for it meant the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies: "I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even upon the menservants and maidservants in those days, I will pour out my spirit" (Joel 3:1-3).
"In power and in the Holy Spirit": in line with the divine plan of salvation, the time of the Old Testament, which prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah, has reached its end, and a new era has begun, the Christian era, the key feature of which is the activity of the Spirit of God: "It must be said that the Holy Spirit is the principal agent of evangelization: it is he who impels each individual to proclaim the Gospel, and it is he who in the depths of consciences causes the word of salvation to be accepted and understood" (Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 75).
7-8. Thessalonica was an important center of trade and a hub of communications for all Greece. The Christians in the city included a number of important people and even some women of the aristocracy (cf. Acts 17:4). The social standing of the converts and the prestige of the city partly explain the rapid spread of Christian teaching throughout the region.
What the Apostle says here only goes to show that when the Christian life is given full rein it spreads far and wide. This should give us every encouragement "always to act in public in accordance with our holy faith" ([St] J. Escriva, Furrow, 46).
9. We can see how happy the Apostle is to learn that the work of evangelization has borne fruit of conversion to God--which is the whole purpose of Gospel preaching. "For the Church, evangelization means bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new" (Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 18).
It is moving to see the way good news spread among the early Christian communities. Obviously anecdotes about the apostolate would go from church to church; this gave them an occasion to praise God while at the same time providing encouragement to stay true to Christ and to spread the Gospel.
10. The Christian message has this feature which differentiates it from Judaism--hope in Christ and expectation of Christ. Two central points of Christian teaching emerge from this verse: Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who rose from the dead, and he will come again to judge all. St John Chrysostom observes that "in a single text St Paul brings together a number of different mysteries concerning Jesus Christ—his glorious resurrection, his victorious ascension, his future coming, the judgment, the reward promised to the righteous, and the punishment reserved for evildoers" (Hom. on 1 Thess, ad loc.).
This verse probably contains a form of words used in oral preaching, and perhaps a profession of faith belonging to early Christian liturgy.
"To wait for his son (to come) from heaven": that Jesus Christ will come again is a truth of faith professed in the Creed: "He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead." Christ will be the Judge of all mankind. Everyone will be personally judged by God twice: "The first judgment takes place when each one of us departs this life; for then he is instantly placed before the judgment-seat of God, where all that he has ever done or spoken or thought during life shall be subjected to the most rigid scrutiny. This is called the particular judgment. The second occurs when on the same day and in the same place all men shall stand together before the tribunal of their Judge, that in the presence and hearing of all human beings of all time each may know his final doom and sentence [...]. This is called the general judgment" (St Pius V Catechism, I, 8, 3).
The "wrath to come" is a metaphor referring to the just punishment of sinners. Our Lord Jesus Christ will exempt from it those who have consistently tried to live in the state of grace and fellowship with God. St Teresa of Avila warns that "it will be a great thing at the hour of death to know that we are going to be judged by him whom we have loved above all things. We can approach this trial with confidence. It will not be like going into a strange land but into our own land, for it is the land that belongs to him whom we love so much and who loves us" (Way of Perfection, 70, 3).