First Thessalonians was a letter St Paul wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica, (modern-day Thessaloniki, Greece). He had shared the good news with them during his Second Missionary Journey (Acts 17). He now writes to strengthen them as young believers (2-3 years old) who were being persecuted for their faith. He tells them that "we" (Silvanus, Timothy and himself) "constantly remember ... how you have shown your faith in action, worked for love and persevered through hope, in our Lord Jesus Christ" (v 3).

How do we put our faith in action and work for love? Over centuries, Christians have been doing that through reaching out to the poor and needy, the sick, the dying, the grieving, the abandoned, the elderly, the orphans, the abused and the rejected. Even as we witness all these, we are challenged by those before us to constantly put our faith in action and work for love in our time and day.

What happens when Christians are persecuted as the Thessalonians were? We can follow their example of persevering through hope in the Lord.

St Paul says of the Thessalonians that "when you converted to God ... you broke with idolatry ... and became servants of the real, living God" (v 9). After our conversion, are there still idols in our lives that prevent us from serving the "real, living God" wholeheartedly?