I can remember way back when I was in eighth grade, after some adolescent gaffe, my Dad said one word, “Think!” As in, think about what you’re doing before you do it!
He went on to say, maybe I should hang that word, someplace in my room, just like he had seen this slogan prominently displayed in the offices of IBM computers.
In today’s reading, St. Paul, like my Dad, has one powerful word for us to think about, and that is love. St. Paul begins by challenging us to strive for the greatest spiritual gifts but quickly lets us know there is more. He lifts up the gifts of speech, prophecy, knowledge, and generosity and for each one says that it must be combined with love for us to be fulfilled.
What strikes me today is the reality of St. Paul’s teaching about the need to combine our talents with love. For example, the most gifted orator cannot convince his son or daughter that he or she loves them through words alone. If it’s not true, then after a while, their speech, no matter how beautiful, becomes like a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
At times we lose track of this central element in our lives. We start to “love” our gifts or abilities more than those they are meant to serve. But these gifts are both partial and temporary.
St. Paul is right; here on earth, we can only know partially about so many things. But what we can believe amidst all of the changing aspects of life is that “faith, hope, and love remain, and the greatest of these is love.”
St. Paul has powerfully interrupted us, to say, our trouble is that at times, we don’t love God and each other enough. Something to put in our hearts and minds this day.
May God bless you and your families this holy day!
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Father David's inspirational homily was recorded live this morning during Mass at the Father Peyton Center. Please view the video on our Facebook page. (You don't need a Facebook account to view.)
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