October 21, 2026

Fr. John Riccardo

Brothers and sisters: You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves openly declare about us what sort of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10).

It was the year 803. Paul was in the port city of Thessalonica. The city was originally named for the half-sister of Alexander the Great, Thessaloniki, but after having been captured by the Romans was renamed Thessalonica. In Paul’s day it was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia and held a prominent place on the trade route. Paul had finally made his way into Europe and was beginning to proclaim the wonders that had happened in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, from the tribe of Judah, a descendant of David, who had been crucified at the orders of the Roman governor of Judea, a man named, Pontius Pilate. But this crucifixion, which looked like a humiliating defeat, had actually been a victory over the cosmic powers of Death and Sin; for God raised Jesus from the dead and gave Him the name above every other name, so that every knee will bend and every tongue will confess that Jesus is LORD.

Wait a minute!

803? What calendar are we using here?

Well, we’re using the calendar that was in place at the time, and 803 referred to the number of years since the founding of Rome, which ruled most of the known world. Using our calendar today, that would make this the year 50. But nobody thought that way yet. Not even Paul. This is worth considering for a moment this week.

Pope John Paul II used to speak often of the need for what he called “a new evangelization” — new not in content, but in ardor, method and expression. Perhaps this expression is familiar to many of us. But we should pause for a moment and reflect on the historical reality that what we might call “the old evangelization” worked.

Paul came to Thessalonica and began preaching Jesus to people who had literally never heard His name before. Some of these people were Jewish, and many others were steeped in idolatry and the worship of the Roman gods. But the power of the Gospel, that is, the announcement of the wonders that God had done for the entire human race in the person of His Son, combined with signs and wonders and the power of the Holy Spirit at work, led people to turn from worshiping idols to worshiping the one, true God.

Over time, this happened in the lives of so many people — rich, poor; slave, free; men and women; Jew and non-Jew — that the most powerful Empire in the world, an Empire that once considered Christianity an illegal superstition, adopted Christianity as its official religion. As time went on, the previous way of dating the year changed too. No longer did everything revolve around the founding of Rome. Instead, it all centered on the birth of Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the conqueror of Sin, Death and Satan, and the King of the universe, through whom and for whom everything that exists was created.

The Roman Empire didn’t adopt Christianity as the official religion because of military or economic pressure from the small Christian community, or any of the many ways that empires down through the ages conquer a people. It happened because of the stunningly authentic witness of the lives of the Christian community. It happened because men, women and even children, of all backgrounds and economic classes, turned away from idolatry and gave their wholehearted allegiance to Jesus above anyone and anything else. Even if it meant having their lives being violently taken from them. And that witness, their love and loyalty for the true King, and their love for one another, was like a magnet that drew their neighbors to listen to the Gospel and then to give their allegiance to the One who has done what no other has done: defeated Death.

As we pray for a “new” evangelization, as we take up the mission that belongs to the Church of rescuing, renewing and transforming the human family into the family of God, maybe this is a good week to prayerfully reflect on the witness of our lives. Where does my true allegiance lie? Am I first and foremost a disciple of Jesus? Would those around me, whether in my family or at work or at school, say that? Or is my faith in Jesus just one of many things in my life, like being Italian, or a member of a particular political party, or a fan of certain college or professional football teams?

May the intercession of Saint Paul, and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives, help us to recognize and turn away from any idols that we might have in our lives, so that we can give God what rightfully belongs to Him. And may we joyfully hold out to those around us the witness of a life sold out for Jesus.

It Actually Happened Before

Since We Are Surrounded By a Great Cloud of Witnesses!