How would the Catholic Church reconcile 1 Thess 4:13 (which suggests soul sleep) with the doctrine of Intercession of Saints?

[1 Thess 4:13 (Douay-Rheims)](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Thessalonians+4%3A13&version=DRA) says: > For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again; even so them **who have slept through Jesus**, will God bring with him. Or, in a more modern English [1 Thess 4:14 (ESV)](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Thessalonians+4%3A14&version=ESV) : > For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those **who have fallen asleep**. This verse implies that after we die we sleep until the general resurrection. How then, can there be the intercession of the dead for the living? **Question**: How would the Catholic Church reconcile 1 Thess 4:13 (or 1 Thess 4:14 in Protestant Bible), which suggests soul sleep, with the doctrine of Intercession of Saints?