In last Sunday’s epistle, Saint Paul listed the many gifts, the charisms that help build up the Church. Today we continue that epistle, with Saint Paul telling us that all those gifts and charisms amount to nothing without love.
The Beatles sang, “All you need is love.” But we would have to ask, “What kind of love?” Love is a complicated, overly used, and misused word. Isn’t it the first word we use when we want to make a positive statement about anything? I love lasagna, I love my spouse, my children. In English, we have only one word to express many kinds of love. However, in the Greek and in the Scriptures, there are four different words for love.Eros which is the physical love that is expressed in marriage. Philos and storgē are used to when referring to self-love and the love of family and friends.
Finally, there is the word, agape which is a love that is unconditional, self-sacrificing, devoid of self-interest, self-gratification, and self-preservation. It describes God’s love for us and the love to which we are called. Agape love is motivated primarily by the interest and welfare of others. It is, of course, the love shown us by the Lord himself who sacrificed himself on the cross.
This is the love of which St. Paul writes. But how do we react when we hear or read this passage? It seems that St. Paul sets a standard or goal that we can never hope to attain. The truth is that our human love is weak. We cannot love on our own. It takes patience and practice and we can expect to make mistakes along the way but love is so vital to our Christian life we must persevere in practicing it.
We need grace—the help of God to raise our weak, human love to a supernatural level. We begin by taking small steps of kindness and sacrifice with those closest to us, but we must go farther. The Lord calls us to love all people—even our enemies—and don’t we need grace to tackle that commandment?
God’s grace enables us to forgive, dispel bitterness and resentments we cling to and desire the good of others. It is not the prerogative of a Christian to say, I will love here but not there.
St. Paul lists fifteen qualities of love that the Lord expects of us. They form a powerful examination of conscience. In verses 4 through 7 of Chapter 13 try replacing the word love with your name. It can be a real eye-opener!
Allow me to insert my own name and I think you will see its powerful effect: “Thomas is patient. Thomas is kind. Thomas is not jealous. Thomas is not pompous, inflated. Thomas is not rude, does not seek his own interests. Thomas is not quick-tempered, does not brood over injuries. Thomas does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Thomas bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” I must then ask, “Are these things true or not? Try this short and powerful examination in your daily prayer.
“All we need is love,” sang the Beatles—not entirely wrong—as long as our love reflects God’s love. It would be wise to remember the admonition of St. John of the Cross that reminds us that “in the twilight of life, God will not judge us on our earthly possessions and human success, but rather on how much we have loved.”
