We ask you, brothers and sisters, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no one deceive you in any way. (2 Thes 2:1-3)

Poor Saint Paul . . . he had to put up with all sorts of troubles: persecutions, beatings, imprisonment, shipwrecks . . . and even worse, other Christians writing fake letters in his name. And for what purpose? To scare people about the end of the world! Well, that kind of silliness still goes on today, two thousand years later. And what does Saint Paul tell us? The same advice he gave to the little community at Thessaloniki: “Hold fast to the traditions that you were taught.”