“God himself has taught them to love one another.” 1Thess. 4:9-12

We pray again today with the mirror of the community of Thessalonica, as Paul, its spiritual director, sees it. It seems that the expectation of the Lord’s coming led some to not even worry about their daily work, and that discredited them in the eyes of the pagans and led them to be in need. Yes, they weren’t perfect. They were human, just like us.  But today we are going to stop at the way they live the fundamental: fraternal love. And we find that Paul himself recognizes that at this point, he is not the teacher. It has been God himself who has taught them to love one another, and they have learned and they practice it, not only among themselves but also with neighboring communities. Yes; only God is a master in loving. Only He is capable of loving unconditionally and everyone, everyone, as Francis said. Let us ask today for that grace to recognize His love, to learn from Him and to practice it, starting with our community, family, neighborhood.