The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
Have you ever received a compliment that changed your day completely? Can you think of one? How did it make you feel?
Sometimes we remember these so vividly – where we were, what we were doing, who we were with (or weren’t with!), and even what the weather was like.
Maybe it was about an outfit we were wearing, a pair of shoes, a ring or jewelry, a hairstyle or even just a smile. But that moment, when someone reaches out to say something kind to us, it stops us and reminds us that we are worthy of recognition and love.
Maybe we never saw that person again (or maybe it’s your spouse!) but that encounter is forever marked in our memory.
In today’s readings we hear St. Paul writing to the Thessalonians with a message of light and strength, reminding of Jesus and His Father’s “everlasting encouragement” and “good hope.”
St. Paul has been through it. We know of the apostle’s tumultuous story, a Christian persecutor-hunter turned faithful disciple. Even with this experience, he speaks to both the Thessalonians and to us today, that “the Lord is faithful” and that “He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.”
And for me, here’s the compliment of the day as Paul writes: “We are confident of you in the Lord.” Read that again: “We are confident of you in the Lord.” Paul has confidence in us because Christ.
It’s no surprise that when we place our trust and our gifts in Him, even in the most trying of times (read: today), grace can abound in the most surprising of places, even in a brief encounter of a friendly compliment between two strangers. So the next time you feel inclined to share a compliment, don’t hold back. St. Paul didn’t and we shouldn’t either.
And during those days when we might feel a stranger to Christ and His Church, remember what the Psalmist tells us today: “Keep me as the apple of Your eye, hide me in the shadow of Your wings… I shall be content in Your presence.”
James Ramos is a Texas-based photo-journalist and designer. He loves swimming, ice cream, a good s'more and anything by Father Henri Nouwen. Follow him on Instagram for more of his writing and photography.
