IT BEARS ALL THINGS
Love never
fails! This brings true joy and happiness!
We are pretty
shabby if we lack love. We know from our own daily experience how disappointed
even great skill is if it isn't accompanied by a generous, kind, merciful and
loving spirit. Think about an efficient pastor or a church leader who has taken
the parish out of debt. They can still lack luster if we can't discern their
genuine interest in the suffering of those most in need.
St. Paul writes to
the Corinthians, "Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, love
is not pompous, it is not inflated" (1 Cor 13:4). We can also think about
the much acclaimed athlete who takes time for the little children who idolize
him or her - who is a model of this love - better than one who sees the
children only as a nuisance. Our gifts in the sense of talents and abilities
are, after all, exactly that - gifts! We may have developed them but we did not
create them. To really shine bright we need to be touched with generous love
and a readiness to serve our brothers and sisters. It's not about oneself.
Jesus Christ's
message about the Kingdom of our heavenly Father is a proclamation of Good
News, and that produces great joy and hope for those who will listen. "For
Love bear all things, believes all things, and hopes all things" (ibid).
We are not to be spiritually dull, we need to be spiritual alive. May we share
the Good News of the Gospel with humble hearts and a hunger for God.
Love never fails!
This brings true joy and happiness!