Conception Abbey

If we went to a Catholic Church this past Sunday, January 31, the 4th Sunday of ordinary time, we heard in the 2nd reading, St. Paul’s beautiful passage on love. In his First Letter to the Corinthians, after speaking in chapter 12 of the gifts that we all receive from the Holy Spirit, today in chapter 13 he encourages us to strive eagerly for the greatest of spiritual gifts. Then he says: "But I will show you a still more excellent way."

The more excellent way that St. Paul speaks of is of course LOVE. I remember in one of my early years in the seminary at Conception our religion teacher, I believe it was Father Bede Scholz, asked us to memorize this chapter where St. Paul speaks so eloquently of love.

The Christian community at Corinth evidently had a number of divisions in it. Their hierarchy of values tended to foster factiousness. Paul points out that whether a person has the gift of prophecy, or of tongues or whatever gift, these are nothing without love. Even almsgiving and martyrdom are nothing without love. As Paul points out, prohecies, tongues, knowledge, have limits, but love does not. Love perfects knowledge. Paul tells them that even the clearest knowledge is like a shadow compared to love. He urges the Corinthians to put aside childish ways and pursue love as the greatest wisdom. Only love lasts.

There are other spiritual gifts, but love is the one essential gift that characterizes the community worthy of the name Christian. Love is the criterion for judging the relative value of all other gifts, since all gifts are given for the sake of building up the community.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests…" Love will prompt us to forgive, it will teach us to hope. Paul is saying that the divisions in Corinth would not exist if the community had been mindful of the primacy of love.

What about us? Does love exist in our community, in our family, in our world? We can only look at ourselves and ask whether love is the most important in my life.

I would suggest that each of us read again that second reading from last Sunday’s Mass. (I Cor. 12:31-13:13)