Chosen to a Life of Faith, a Labor of Love and Endurance in Hope

In today's first reading, 1 Thes 1:1-5, 8b-10, St. Paul says to the people: We give  thanks to God always for all of you,... unceasingly calling to  mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ,...knowing...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.  ...In every place your faith in God has gone forth...."

As I reflect upon those words, I think of my parents. They, too, "were chosen."   Like the people of Thessalonia,  "the Gospel did not come to [them] in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction."  Their faith was alive and well. It was powerful and changed their lives.  They endured all that they encountered in life with the same faith that Jesus had in God's will for Him and thus they were survivors, not victims of suffering. The sufferings that my parents endured in their lives deepened their faith and dependence upon God and one another. 

How do you and I cope with suffering? Is suffering a catalyst that nurtures our faith and dependence upon God and each other, making us spiritually strong individuals? Or do we use suffering to feel sorry for ourselves, to vent our anger upon others, and to play the "poor me" role in life? Suffering itself is not harmful. It is the way we cope with pain and suffering that can harm us or others.  The choice is ours!

It is also important to remember that God does not send us pain or suffering. Such comes to us through sin. Jesus Himself suffered, as all of us do, because of sin in the world, in his case because of sin in the leaders of his time who were jealous of Him and therefore determined to put him to death. He was a threat to their power and therefore they found a way to destroy Him, so they thought, in death.  Jesus teaches us to approach suffering and death in faith, knowing that these realities of life here on earth do not have the last say. God does and God gives new life in spite of and through that which causes us pain and leads to a dying and rising--new life here on earth or to eternal life in heaven!