1 Thes 2:1-8 / Mt 23:23-26
There’s a familiar old saying that says, "No good deed goes unpunished." St Paul gives ample testimony to the truth of that axiom in today’s epistle. He was doing his very best to share the Good News, traveling all over the Mediterranean, working long days, writing endless letters, and supporting himself by working part-time as a tent maker. His one hope was to help transform people’s lives in a healthier and happier direction, but what he got in return, as often as not, was hostility and ingratitude.
There’s more than an historical value in our hearing his story yet again, because our own lives inevitably contain some of the same kinds of experiences. Whether in our families or elsewhere, we set out with the best of intentions and do our best, but too often reap nothing but indifference or grief. It was always thus, so we’d better decide how to respond to such experiences when they come. One option, of course, is simply to disengage and walk away. But that wasn’t Paul’s choice. Because he believed in what he was doing, he kept doing it, whether he got the kudos or not. That’s what it means to care deeply and to be faithful.
It will help a lot to keep Paul’s way of living and loving in mind. He got it straight from Jesus.
