Being a Source of Encouragement to Others

In today’s first reading of Ordinary Time, 1 Thes 3: 7-13, Paul says to the Thessalonians:  “Brothers/ [sisters], your  faith has been a great encouragement to us in the middle of our own distress and hardship.”  I ask myself:  Do I radiate faith and trust when the waters around me are turbulent?   In the midst of hardship,  am I a source of strength to others because my faith is strong and my trust in the Lord unwavering?

Paul also says to the Thessalonians:  “…[W]e can breathe again, as you are holding firm in the Lord.” He also reminds them that they “shall continue to flourish if [they] stand firm in the Lord.” The question is:  Am I holding firm in Christ Jesus?  Is my religious community, the parish community, the family unit holding firm in the Lord?  Is my faith, I ask, firmly rooted in the Lord or in the accumulation of gadgets, in the next book I will read, in material things, accolades, being popular, being more “successful” than the person to whom I compare myself?

We learn in this passage that Paul is anxious to return to the people in order to “remedy any shortcomings in [their] faith.” Who remedies the shortcomings in your faith or mine?  Would others be eager for my return because, by my very presence, I “remedy any shortcomings” in their faith? Or am I a hindrance in the growth of another's faith because of my negativity, my anger and resentment, my cynicism, my critical attitudes, my competitiveness, my jealousy and misguided motivations?

Things to think about!  As you reflect upon 1 Thes 3: 7-13, what questions rise within you?