Spiritual Quote of the Day (St. Paul to the Thessalonians, on Hope Despite Grief)

“We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

“Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.

“For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

“Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

“Thus we shall always be with the Lord.

“Therefore, console one another with these words.”—1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18

The 1612 image accompanying this post, Apostle St. Paul, was painted by the Spanish Renaissance painter, sculptor, and architect El Greco (1541-1614), and hangs in Museo del Greco, Toledo, Spain.