Keep it up Christians!

XXIX Sunday "A" 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace. 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.

I've been told that in Mexico priests are not allowed to say anything against the government. And the gospel is the famous "To Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God." So it's better if I don't open my mouth and cause myself any trouble. Obviously being a good Christian means that we are going to support the common good of the state in which we live. We must give to Caesar or the government what belongs to them, but not what belongs to God. In the end we have to be obedient to God first and not to any government. So, I'm going to preach on today's second Reading. St. Paul's letter to the Thessalonians. Until the end of the liturgical year, which is the feast of Christ the King, we're going to be reading from St. Paul's letter to the Thessalonians. This letter was written by St. Paul the Apostle around the year 50, so it's one of the oldest epistles of the New Testament. Which means it's most ancient part of the New Testament. Paul had visited the community in 49 AD to start the church and now he is writing from Corinth to encourage the young community. The church was being persecuted so Paul is telling them to hold fast, to be firm in the faith. Paul was happy with the community, he believed that they were living their faith and he wanted them to remain strong. The letter is a pastoral model of encouragement, perseverance and hope. As Paul wrote his letter to the people of Thessalonica I am going to preach to you the People of the Comarca Lagunera. I speak as a foreigner about what I have observed in this community after almost a year living here. We begin the reading with the beginning of the letter. In verse 1 Paul is simply saying that the letter is from him, Silvanus and Timothy and it is for the church in Thessalonica. It is like the address on the envelope. In verse 2 Paul says he has good memories of the people and they are always in his thoughts in prayers. Verse 3 is where the letter really begins, "Before God our Father we remember without ceasing the works that manifest your faith, the weary labors that your love has undertaken, and the perseverance that your hope in Jesus Christ our Lord gives you." Here we find the key points of St. Paul's preaching. Faith, hope, and love. As I said, the community was being persecuted and so Paul is impressed with their faith, their ministry is expressed in their love, and their hope that they had in Jesus Christ. Faith... I, like St. Paul, am very impressed with your faith. Not only with the number of you who come to celebrate the sacraments here on Sundays, but also every day of the week. One thing that has impressed me about you is the firmness of your faith. What does this mean? It is the conviction that Jesus is walking with you. In good times and also in difficult times, you have manifested a firm belief that God is with you. An example is the novena of St. Gerard that we have just celebrated. I have spoken with several couples who came here to ask for the miracle of a good birth through the intercession of St. Gerard and many who came with their children to thank God for the miracle of their child. For me it is a symbol of a living faith. Not only to come here, but to have the faith that good or bad everything is in God's hands. Faith is wanting a miracle, but only if it is God's will. Second love, and Paul is not talking about romantic love but "the wearisome labors that have undertaken their love." How have I seen the tiring labors? Well, again I'm going to use the example of the novena of St. Gerard. I hope you know that the novena was a lot of work. Not only the services, prayers and masses, but a gathering every night, the donations for the tombola and for those who are expecting a baby. And the kermes. Many people worked long hours at the kermes. The ones who set up everything before the celebration even started, the ones who cooked and those who stayed here for hours selling the food. I was complaining about the line for the gorditas. I had to wait more than 20 minutes in line, but imagine them, almost 7 hours standing making the gorditas, the enchiladas, the tacos, the menudo, the aguas, the lunches. Everything was very tasty, and why? For love! Love for the church, love for St. Gerard and above all for the love of God. Finally, Paul is grateful for your perseverance in hope. I know that the lives of many of you are not easy. There are people who are suffering, suffering with illness, poverty, separation, people fighting for a better life, especially for their children or grandchildren. Here in the region you have learned to fight. And as a gringo this is what impresses me about this community. People fighting not only for a better world or life for yourselves but for others. This is true hope. The other day I was walking in the park and there were many people there planting trees. Not city workers but volunteers. Planting a tree is an act of hope. Hope for a world where you are not going to take advantage of your work. You do have a lot of hope. La Laguna is not a perfect place. There are many problems in our community as in the community of Thessalonica. We have 5 more Sundays to consider the letter and Paul is also going to challenge the community as we also need to be challenged. But it is important to remember that here as in Thessalonica we have a good foundation. Our foundation is Christ Jesus, and with him our faith is firmer, our hope deeper, and our love expressed and our works.