A reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the people of Thessalonika
My dear friends, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
This is the word of the Lord
Thanks be to God