21st Week in Ordinary Time : Monday 25th August 2025

Paul was writing to the Church in Thessalonica to encourage them to continue in the faith. Paul thanked them for their faithfulness and their continuing work for the Lord Jesus Christ. They had a reputation in the entire region for the way in which they had turned from idols and were worshipping God. What a great blessing for Paul, Silvanus and Timothy to witness the fruit oftheirwork forthe Lord. Yet Paul recognized that the Church needed encouragement to remain strong in the faith. To exhort them further, Paul reminds them to uphold the value of providing good relations to live together, not just in words but in labour.

Jesus had been telling the people to do what the scribes and the Pharisees taught but not to act as they did. The scribes and Pharisees were hypocrites. They did not hold the true benchmarks of fulfilling the laws. They told people to do one thing and then they did another. Without fear, Jesus followed up with a list of”woes” to the scribes and Pharisees because of their flawed actions. They hindered people from entering the kingdom of God by what they preached and believed. Jesus repeatedly called them hypocrites and fools and provided the evidence for what He considered they were doing wrong. We would do well to be familiar with these teachings of Jesus so that we don’t fall into the same contradicting behaviour labelled as Pharisaic hypocrisy.

PRAYER: Jesus, in my supporting others, help me to imbibe Your teachings and actions.