1 Thess 5:1-6, 9-11 / Luke 4:31-37
The Church has this tradition of reading and reflecting on the writings of the early Church Fathers and the saints.
Even though they lived in bygone era and way back into the past, yet their words still have relevance for us today in the areas of spirituality and how we live out our Christianity.
Their words carry an authority then as they do now. But more importantly their words give us encouragement and direction.
In the gospel, we heard that the teaching of Jesus made a deep impression on the people because He spoke with authority.
His words not only had the power to cast out evil but His words also gave the people the encouragement and the direction that they were longing to hear.
Similarly for St. Paul, he told the Thessalonians that he was not going to write about "times and seasons" and other frivolous stuff.
He encouraged them to live in the light and to be sons of the day. His words were meant to encourage and to strengthen them in their Christian way of life.
Those are simple words but the simplicity carries with it an authority that makes people listen and understand.
So simple and encouraging words have the power to influence lives and change the world. May we, by the grace of God, continue to speak those simple and encouraging words.