Homily for Tuesday
21st Week of Ordinary Time
Aug. 27, 2024
2 Thes 2: 1-3, 14-17
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence,
N.R.
“… with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him” (2 Thes 2: 1).
The
early Church seems to have expected an imminent return of Jesus to complete his
work of salvation. Paul wrote about that
concern in his 1st Letter to the Thessalonians, which is our earliest piece of
the NT, probably a quarter-century older than the 1st written gospels that we
have.
Paul’s
concern here is that some of his disciples in Thessalonica are so convinced
that Jesus will come soon that they’re not living day-to-day Christian
lives. So he urges them to “stand firm
and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught” (2:15). Those traditions included chaste living,
mutual charity, and honest work, as he brought out in his 1st letter or will
bring out later in this one. We can link
his teaching with what Jesus says in today’s gospel (Matt 23:23) about
“judgment, mercy, and fidelity.”
“Judgment” there means “justice” or “righteousness”; in the words of one
commentator: “honest diligence in doing what is right and fair”: mercy is
“active kindness to everyone in need of help”; fidelity is “steady integrity in
dealings with others.”[1] That’s practical Christian life.
We
also note that Paul speaks “our assembling with our Lord Jesus Christ.” His word for “assembling” is episunagoges,
or in the Latin translation, congregationis.[2] It’s the same word for Christians’ weekly
gathering for worship. The word suggests
Jesus’ presence in our assembling for the Eucharist, and a continuity between
our assembling here and when he comes again.
Thru our presence in Jesus’ assembly, he effects our calling “to possess
[his] glory” (2:14).
So,
in our worship and in our daily lives we pray for the Lord’s return.
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