Word to the Wise
Sunday, January 31, 2010 - Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 12:31 - 13:13; Luke 4:21-30]If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.......So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love. [1 Corinthians]
Over my nearly 39 years of priestly ministry, I've witnessed many weddings. I think I could say with some confidence that the scripture most chosen to be read on those occasions has been the passage from St. Paul that is the second scripture for today's Eucharist! I've quoted the opening and closing lines of the passage above. When the couple turns to walk back down the aisle to begin their married life together, I pray that their discovery about the "everyday-ness" of love will be the strength of their marriage. That discovery is one that we must all make if we are to call ourselves truly Christian. Love is not simply "a many splendored thing," it is a many "splintered" thing. Christian love requires that we embrace those splinters if we wish to enjoy the splendors! Furthermore we must embrace them with love! The irritating habits of those with whom we live; the unattractiveness of the people whom we may be called upon to serve; the prejudices of those who dislike us......these we must embrace like St. Francis embracing the leper! St. Paul speaks of all the things that love is and is not and concludes that love "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." Well......this scripture can serve as an examination of conscience, then! If Christ is the model of love for us, then we are challenged indeed! Even the most heroic act ultimately comes to nothing if not done out of love. But, it is the everydayness of love that is the true measure of us all. God's love never takes a vacation, and neither should ours. If I have witnessed many weddings, I have also heard many confessions where the challenges of loving and failing to love are presented. Christ's love is there to forgive over and over again. Can we? He embraced the splinters of the cross before the splendors of the resurrection. My hope today is that we can all do both! AMEN