NOTES for Th1 3:1-13
The letters of the apostle Paul strike us first of all by their humanity. Parents still write to their children in this way: passionately and tenderly, anxious about what they do not know and trying to help from afar. When possible, they send someone who can comfort and support them. Left without news, they worry whether everything is all right, whether their children have settled in, and whether they have done anything foolish. The whole of today's chapter is a treasure that allows us to understand those who passed on to us the news of Jesus' death and Resurrection. It is like being able to hear their heartbeat and take their pulse. This is not a literary genre or a cultural monument; these are often words too emotional for an outsider's eyes, the words of someone who is anxious about us and concerned whether we stand firm in our faith.