Please read this passage before reading the homily.
St Paul was praising the Thessalonian Christians. He wrote this letter to encourage them to continue their good works. On the other hand, there were some problems: some of the Christians did not want to work.
Why would they not want to work? We do not know exactly, but we do know that many Thessalonians believed that the Lord was coming soon. Perhaps they were thinking, “Why worry about the future if the Lord us going to come before we die. Why work if the Lord is on the verge of coming? We can sit around every day, praying to the Lord and waiting expectantly for the Lord to come.”
Idle times, however, breed busybodies. Busybodies can criticize those who work and find fault with the work being done. The Thessalonians should not be busybodies; they should get jobs.
What was Paul’s example? When he came to Thessalonica, he looked for work to support himself. He did not want to burden his recent converts.
St Paul knew that he could have lived off the generosity of the people, but he preferred not to impose on his converts. He worked and gave them an example. He had a right to live off of their generosity, but he rejected that right.
Paul could say, “As I have done, so should you.” We need not refuse gifts, but we have no right to demand gifts. This was true for St Paul’s Christians and it is also true for us.