Readings:
Esther 1-2
2 Thessalonians 3

Esther 1-2

The Book of Esther is well known among Jews and most Christians. It contains the story of a woman who is put into a position of influence, that she didn’t seek herself, and she faces the dilemma of how to use her position to protect her people.

The story opens up with the king giving a feast that lasts for months, and towards the end of it he calls for his queen, a woman named Vashti, because he wanted the kingdom to see her beauty. But she refused the summons and would not go to the king, and this enrages him. He calls a meeting of his inner circle and they agree to banish Vashti for her disobedience to her king, but also to set an example for the rest of the nation because they were worried this would cause women to rebel against their husbands all over.

So they host a sort of competition that’s like a crossover of American idol and the bachelor. All the eligible ladies of the kingdom are brought to the capital and put in a program that lasted a full year. This program “beautified” the women before they came to the king. Esther is chosen by the king to be his new queen and her uncle Mordecai uncovers a plot in the palace, so that when he exposes it he curries favor with the king.

2 Thessalonians 3

Paul closes with a request for prayer from the church in Thessaloniki, that the gospel may continue to spread in his missions and all the missions of the church. He also addresses a new situation that seems to be affecting Thessaloniki alone.

The people there expected the return of Christ to be imminent, and so they quit working and became freeloaders living off the work of others. This had some other further implications in that it ate away the savings of the freeloaders themselves and their neighbors that supported them, and it also lead to idleness that cause them to become bored and involved themselves in the affairs of others. Paul reminds them that he didn’t live off their charity, but he worked and toiled to earn a living so that he wouldn’t be a burden on the churches. He says they should imitate his work ethic and stay out of other people’s business. He follows this with the maxim “if a man doesn’t work, neither shall he eat.”

Manual labor aims at obtaining food, removing idleness, curbing fallen desires, and enabling almsgiving. As a means of acquiring food, work is commanded as a precept, so that one who has no other means of livelihood is bound to work. This is signified by the words of the apostle.

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Paul recommends that if anyone refuse to listen to this apostolic letter that he be shunned from the community, but not as an enemy, instead they’re to be seen as a wayward brother. This is excommunication, it’s a medicine to invoke repentance and reconciliation, not a condemnation.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
Esther 3-5
1 Timothy 1