Year by year our liturgy takes us through readings from the Old and New Testaments, the same feasts and celebrations of saints, the same prayers. Why the repetition?

The liturgy calls for deep reading. Deep reading is different than the quick reading we do looking up facts.

Facts only take us so far. “What time is it?”and “What’s the meaning of time?” are different questions. One can be answered right away, the other calls for a journey of reflection. If we hear ourselves say “I know this already” as we approach the 1st Letter to the Thessalonians and the Gospel of Mathew——our readings this week—-we close a door to wisdom. 

The liturgy is a daily bread. We learn little by little at its table. We’re slow learners. We forget. So we need to read the same scriptures and say the same prayers and celebrate our familiar saints. “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” We are called to deep reading.

We hear God’s voice in our lectionary readings this week and till next Tuesday from Paul’s Letter to the Thessalonians. It’s the earliest writing of the New Testament, taking us back to the church at its beginnings. Thessalonians provides four readings for morning and evening prayer so this is a good time to deepen our understanding of this book of scripture.

What have we to learn from those chapters of Matthew we read from this week? What can Monica and Augustine, saints we celebrate this week, have to say? “From their place in heaven they guide us still.”

Ai will probably be recreating 1st century Thessaloniki soon, but in the meantime I found this recent YouTube presentation, an interesting introduction to the world St. Paul and his companions entered on their journey to this city in Macedonia. Like other cities Paul visited, it was on the main road to Rome.