The Lens of Love
Sep 18: Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Yes, you've heard today's first reading at every wedding you've been to.
But it's still worth considering fully.
Reading 1
1 Cor 12:31-13:13
Brothers and sisters: Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
But I shall show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in human and angelic tongues 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.
Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, love is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
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. 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. 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. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
God gives us lots of gifts, some of which are amazing—prophesy, knowledge, faith. But none of these are worth anything without love.
What's interesting about the well-known list of attributes of love is, while we translate them in English as adjectives, in the original Greek, they're verbs. Love doesn't just be; it's something you do. We just don't really have a verb for patienting or not ruding.
The fact that love is an action and not a feeling or state of being, that's something newly weds need to remember for sure. But it's not limited just to them or only to the wedding day. We all need to do love, just as God loves us at all times.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 33:2-3, 4-5, 12 and 22
R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten stringed lyre chant his praises.
Sing to him a new song;
pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
For upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
The Israelites are the chosen people, and for that, they should be grateful. But gratitude shouldn't end there. We are all sons and daughters of God, Jesus tells us. We should also be thankful for His love.
Alleluia
See Jn 6:63c, 68c
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life,
you have the words of everlasting life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
There are places in the world where even the text of the Bible is banned! Again, thank God for the ability to read His words whenever we like.
Gospel
Lk 7:31-35
Jesus said to the crowds: "To what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 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.'
For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, 'He is possessed by a demon.' 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.' But wisdom is vindicated by all her children."
Some people are always looking for fault in others.1 When John the Baptist fasted, they complained that he wouldn’t celebrate; when Jesus drank with his friends, they complained that he didn’t mourn.
The fact is, everyone honors and praises God in their own way, to some degree. Just like sin is personal,2 so is praise. If you’re an introvert, calm reflection comes naturally to you; group worship may be something you have to make an effort to do. For an extrovert, the opposite is true—you’re happy participating in mass and public ministries, but have trouble sitting quietly with God.
So, when we see someone worshipping in a way we’re not comfortable with, we shouldn’t judge. Instead, we should celebrate their participation in God’s work, and maybe even try to learn something from them.
Let’s be honest, it’s all of us, at least some of the time.
For example, it might be totally fine for you to have a couple of drinks after dinner, it’s imprudent for a serious alcoholic to even have a sip, if it tempts them to greater sin.