Monday 1 September 2025 - Died and rose again

Monday 1 September 2025

Today is Monday the 1st of September, in the 22nd week of Ordinary Time. The Community of Taizé sing Misericordias Domini. ‘I will sing forever of the mercy of God.’ (Lyrics currently unavailable) Today’s reading is from Saint Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord for ever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. Paul helps the Thessalonian Christians understand how the death and resurrection of Jesus shapes their future hope and identity. What shapes your thoughts about the future? When you think about death, what hopes or questions are stirred in you? In what ways are you living the resurrection life with Christ now? ‘We will be with the Lord forever.' Hold onto this promise as you listen to Paul’s words again. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord for ever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. If Jesus were to speak to you about your future with him, what might he want you to hear? In these last moments of prayer, rest quietly in His presence; with the one who promises never to let you go. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be World without end Amen