Love Never Fails
February 3, 2013
Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2013 C
By Rev. Joe
McCloskey, SJ
The word of the LORD
came to me, saying: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were
born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. Jeremiah 1:4-6
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. For we know partially and we
prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 1 Corinthians 13:8-10
Jesus began speaking
in the synagogue, saying: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your
hearing.” And all spoke highly of him and
were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of
Joseph?” He said to them, “Surely you
will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in
your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’” And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet
is accepted in his own native place.
Luke 4:21-24
Piety
Love is the fullness of piety shared with others. It is one thing to love the Lord, our God
with all our minds, hearts and souls. But
how can we say we love the God we do not see if we do not love the people that
are part of our daily lives. Love is a
now thing about life. The Sacrament of
the Present Moment is the willingness to offer all of our life to the moment we
are in and the people that are there.. A
person fully alive is in the moment now with all they are . Paul describes what this is like with his
statement of all the things that love is.
Since only now touches the eternal now of heaven, it is always important
that we put all of ourselves into what we are doing now for another. Discernment is the awareness of what God is
asking of us in the moment now of our lives.
We pray to the Spirit that we might be aware of what God is asking of us. The Spirit allows us to see beyond
appearances. It open our eyes wide to
the vision of Christ so that we can see our world through the eyes of Christ. Richard Rohr tells us we have to get beyond
appearances. For me that is the
simplicity of climbing the cross of
Christ and looking at my world with the eyes of Christ from his cross. Piety is how we face the God of Now.
Study
We study how God protects us from the slings and arrows of
outrageous fortune. Now is the only
moment that touches the eternal now of God.
The evil spirit cannot come on his own into our now. Our yesterdays and tomorrows are how
temptation is formed. Living the
fullness of now is man fully alive. What
is good sanctity is also good mental health.
We clear up our worries over tomorrow by realizing God does not waste
tomorrow’s graces on today. I call it
the principle of divine economy. God gives us what we need for today. Yesterday’s sad memories are best handled by
the realization that I can make a lifetime out of now. It only takes a moment to live a lifetime. Love is forever. Cor. 1,
13 is Paul’s description of the greatest spiritual gifts. Living those gifts is the fully alive that
Spirituality and Psychology talk about.
Action
We put into action the love of God that has been with us
before we were formed in our mother’s womb.
God knew us and loved us into being.
He created us to love us. He does
not force his love upon us. So our
biggest and most important action of life is our love. We can have as much love in life as we give
away. Jesus claims the scroll of Isaiah 61 as the
truth of himself. The good news that
love preaches to our friends is the truth of Christ in us. Where there is love, God is
there. We are called to be the love of
Christ for each other. “There is no
greater love that to give one ‘s life for the sake of another.” Love and do
what you will.
No comments:
Post a Comment