WEDNESDAY, TWENTY FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
1 Cor 12:31–13:13 Ps 33: 2-5, 12, 22 Lk 7: 31-35
THE GREATEST IS LOVE
In his celebrated book, The Four Loves, C. S. Lewis (philosopher) observes that the safest way to avoid the pain of love is to lock one’s heart away. Yet a heart shielded from love soon grows hard, cold, and incapable of joy. Is this not one of the greatest temptations of our age, to protect ourselves so much that we forget how to love? St. Paul offers the antidote. Writing to a divided and quarrelsome community, he invites them to rediscover the heart of Christian life. The Corinthians admired extraordinary gifts: prophecy, wisdom, and spiritual experiences. But Paul reminds them that the greatest gift is not what impresses others; it is love. For Paul, love is not merely an emotion or one virtue among many. It is the very life of God shared with His people. Every other gift belongs to time; love belongs to eternity. Prophecies will cease, knowledge will pass away, and earthly achievements will fade. But love endures because God Himself is love.
The absence of such love is evident in today’s Gospel. Jesus speaks of a generation that rejected both John the Baptist and Himself. They criticized John for fasting and condemned Jesus for dining with sinners. Their hearts were closed to God’s surprising ways. When love is absent, it becomes difficult to recognize God’s presence, even when He stands before us. The third-century martyrs whom we celebrate today, Saints Cornelius and Cyprian, offer a powerful witness to this same love. During one of the fierce persecutions of Emperor Decius, many Christians denied their faith out of fear. When peace returned, some wanted these weak, fallen believers permanently excluded from the Church. Cornelius and Cyprian chose another path: the path of love, mercy and reconciliation. They understood that a Church without love ceases to reflect the heart of Christ. The Carmelite St. John of the Cross, tells us : “In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.” May that love become the measure of every choice we make.
Response: Blessed the people the Lord has chosen as his heritage.
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