Monday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
August 23, 2021
Daily Reading from the USCCB: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8b-10
Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians is a document filled with newness and basics. It’s the oldest extant writing of Christianity. It’s the first Christian letter–that basic form of communication that would become typical of Christians being in touch with one another.
Its content is basic Christian belief. It deals with fundamentals that would permeate Christian teaching from now on. For the first time we hear of the triad of faith, hope, and love–a foundational grouping of Christian realities on which all future Christian belief and spirituality would be built. Finally, this communication is about thanksgiving–the Christian virtue that gives meaning to all others.
How thin our Christian teaching would be without letters. Thanks be to God for them all.
