1st READING
This may be the most eloquent text ever written about the nature of true love. However, it becomes meaningless unless we put it into action. Words inspire us, but if not acted upon, it does not mean anything. Paul’s life is a testimony to his understanding of love, and he speaks with authority on the subject. Let us pray to also speak with authority about love and live it in our daily lives.
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
31 Brothers and sisters: Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts. But I shall show you a still more excellent way. 13:1 If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. 2 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. 3 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. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, love is not pompous, it is not inflated, 5 it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, 6 it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. 9 For we know partially and we prophesy partially, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. 12 At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. 13 So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
PSALM
Psalm 33:2-3, 4-5, 12, 22
R: Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
2 Give thanks to the Lord on the harp; with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises. 3 Sing to him a new song; pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness. (R) 4 For upright is the word of the Lord, and all his works are trustworthy. 5 He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the Lord the earth is full. (R) 12 Blessed the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he has chosen for his own inheritance. 22 May your kindness, O Lord, be upon us who have put our hope in you. (R)
GOSPEL
We cannot please people all the time. Jesus also experienced this. Today’s Gospel is one of those times. Let us draw courage from Jesus as we reflect on the hostility He faced when He decided to love all men and women. Let us imitate His love and mercy. May we never lose heart no matter how hard our lives may become.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life, you have the words of everlasting life.
Luke 7:31-35
31 Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32 They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’ 33 For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ 35 But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
Reflect: “A loving heart is the truest wisdom.” – Charles dickens
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T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST
thank You, Lord, for:
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Read the Bible in one year - Psalms 111-115
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