1 Thess 4:13 (Douay-Rheims) 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):
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?