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From: 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

First Gospel Preaching in Thessalonica (Continuation)

[9] For you remember our labor and toil, brethren; we worked night and days
that we might not burden any of you, while we preached to you the gospel of
God. [10] You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blame-
less was our behavior to you believer; [11] for you know how, like a father with
his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged
you [12] to lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and
glory.

Their Patience

[13] And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word
of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as
what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

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Commentary:

7-9. St Paul could have “made demands” in a double sense—by using the full
force of his apostolic authority, and by exercising his right to financial support
from the community (cf. 1 Cor 9:14); but he did neither one thing (vv. 7-8) nor
the other (v. 9).

On the contrary, he passed on the Gospel message and worked with the disin-
terested love and dedication of a nursing mother. St John Chrysostom, putting
himself in St Paul’s place, comments as follows: “It is true that I preached the
Gospel to you in obedience to a commandment from God; but I love you with so
great a love that I would have been ready to die for you. That is the perfect model
of sincere, genuine love. A Christian who loves his neighbor should be inspired
by these sentiments. He should not wait to be asked to give up his life for his
brother; rather, he should offer it himself” (”Hom. on 1 Thess, ad loc.”).

“The work of evangelization presupposes in the evangelizer an ever increasing
love for those whom he is evangelizing [...]. What is this love? It is much more
than that of a teacher; it is the love of a father; and again, it is the love of a mo-
ther. It is this love that the Lord expects from every preacher of the Gospel, from
every builder of the Church. A sign of love will be the concern to give the truth
and to bring people into unity [...]. Yet another sign of love will be the effort to
transmit to Christians not doubts and uncertainties born of an erudition poorly
assimilated but certainties that are solid because they are anchored in the
Word of God. The faithful need these certainties for their Christian life; they
have a right to them, as children of God” (Paul VI, “Evangelii Nuntiandi”, 79).

The Apostle’s hardworking life strengthened his moral authority when he had to
warn people against the temptation of idleness (cf. 1 Thess 4: 11) ; it also was
a very good example for the early generations of Christians.

10-12. “Each one of you”: St Paul did not confine his preaching to the syna-
gogue or other public places, or to liturgical assemblies of Christians. He took
an interest in people as individuals, giving advice and consolation in a friendly,
confidential way and telling them how they should conduct themselves in the
presence of God. Christians should copy him in their own apostolate: “Those
well-timed words, whispered in the ear of your wavering friend; the helpful con-
versation you managed to start at the right moment; the ready professional ad-
vice that improves his university work; the discreet indiscretion by which you
open up unexpected horizons for his zeal. This all forms part of the ‘apostolate
of friendship’” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 973).

Those who have received the gift of faith naturally try to tell others about their dis-
covery. “When you come across something useful, you try to bring other people,”
St Gregory comments. “So, you should want other people to join you on the way
of the Lord. If you are going to the forum or the baths and you meet someone who
has nothing to do, you invite him to go along with you. Apply this earthly custom
to the spiritual sphere and as you make you way to God do not go alone” (”In
Evangelia Homilae”, 6, 6). As can be seen clearly from the lives of the first Chris-
tians, apostolate was not the preserve of pastors; all believers had an apostolic
role. And so the Second Vatican Council pointed out that one kind of personal
apostolate very suited to our times is “the witness of a whole lay life issuing from
faith, hope and charity [...]. Then, by the apostolate of the word, which in certain
circumstances is absolutely necessary, the laity proclaim Christ, explain and
spread his teachings, each one according to his conditions and competence,
and profess those teachings with fidelity” (”Apostolicam Actuositatem”, 16).

“Into his own kingdom and glory”: “glory” is a divine attribute which becomes
manifest in the “Kingdom” of God; the Church is the as-yet-incomplete form on
earth of that Kingdom, which will not become visible in its final form until the Pa-
rousia at the end of time. God calls everyone to join the Church so as to be able
to enjoy the glory of the Kingdom of God in due course.

13. Initially divine Revelation was passed on to others orally. “It [Gospel prea-
ching] was done by the Apostles, who handed on (by the spoken word of their
preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established) what
they themselves received—whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life
and his works, or whether as something learned from the Holy Spirit” (Vatican II,
“Dei Verbum”, 7). Thus, “the apostles, in handing on what they themselves had
received warn the faithful to maintain the traditions which they had learned either
by word of mouth or by letter (cf. 2 Thess 2:15); and they warn them to fight hard
for the faith that had been handed on to them once and for all (cf. Jude 3). What
was handed on by the apostles comprises everything that serves to make the
people of God live their lives in holiness and increase their faith. In this way the
Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every ge-
neration all that she herself is, all that she believes” (”Dei Verbum”, 8).

Preaching is truly the “word of God” not only because it faithfully passes Revela-
tion on but also because God himself speaks through those who proclaim the
Gospel (cf. 2 Cor 5:20). This explains why “the word of God is living and active”
(Heb 4:12), and “such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve
the Church as her support and vigor, and the children of the Church as strength
for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life” (”Dei
Verbum”, 21).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.