Today's first reading, 1 Cor 12: 31-13:13, contains the famous passage on the greatest of spiritual gifts, love! "If I speak in human and angelic tongues," Paul warns me, "but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing."
Paul could also say to me and you: If you make millions and billions and have no love, you gain nothing and are nothing! Or, if you win the most prestigious awards or secure the most prestigious of positions and have no love, you gain nothing or are nothing!
It's all about love! We have only to look at the love of a mother/father for their child/children, parents willing to sacrifice everything for the well-being of their children, parents who discipline their children, teach them Gospel values, how to focus on the Living God, and how to live honest, just self-sacrificing love for the sake of others, and we see love at its finest. Persons who live a life of love are kind and patient, compassionate and understanding, merciful and caring of others. Such persons do not "brood over injury" or "rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoice with the truth." Such persons find ways to forgive and let go of past hurts, returning good for evil and kindness for a lack of kindness! These kind of persons, filled with hope and gratitude, are graced to endure all things in a way that strengthens their loving spirit. May you and I be such persons!
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