Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the holy ones and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: grace to you and peace from God our Father. We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the holy ones because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. Of this you have already heard through the word of truth, the Gospel, that has come to you. Just as in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing, so also among you, from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth, as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow slave, who is a trustworthy minister of Christ on your behalf and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
REFLECTION
We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the holy ones because of the hope reserved for you in heaven.
Receiving mail is always fun for me. Now there are the proverbial bills that must be paid to stay out of trouble and keep the lights on and of these I am not referring.
My enjoyment is when I receive a letter or note from friends, family or fellow believers via slow mail: Actual handwritten notes, not messages typed with typos, and sent to the great unknown cyberspace. My mother in law always corresponded via mail. My mom would write me letters if I did not listen to her advice or if she needed to tell me again when I was wrong. I still have those letters.
We are so fortunate that many of the saints by their letter writings spread the Gospels, consoled the sick and the suffering, challenged the powerful, shared their suffering from prison and how their faith and trust in God sustained them. Saints Peter, James and John, St Jerome to Paula, St Augustine, St Catherine of Siena, St Maximilian Kolbe, St Alphonsus Liguori, St Francis de Sales and St Jane of Chantal are a few who evangelized, chastised or encouraged through letter writing. St Gregory the Great was a prolific letter writer, with over 800 surviving letters. Most of their letters can be read as if they were written to us.
St Paul's writings are profound, enlightening and very instructive. They can be read several times with deeper understanding each time reread. They either affirmed the believer’s faith or addressed issues or problems, always encouraging through perseverance of faith, reminding of the salvation achieved by Jesus.
His writings to the Colossians helped the confused, the ones who were on the wrong path or when "untrue teachings" were preached. St Paul thanked them for their faith and encouraged them to model their lives after Christ. His advice was simple: to bear witness to our salvation through Jesus Christ. To deepen our faith we are to fix on the "hope reserved for you in heaven".
Years later, we are still being instructed by all these saints, always being pointed to the Kingdom of God.
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