Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
(I Corinthians 12.31-13:13; Luke7:31-35)
The twentieth century Jesuit mystic and scientist Pierre
Teilhard de Chardin wrote that when humans learn how to harness the power of
love, for the second time they will have discovered fire. He might have added that love outdoes fire in
that it never destroys, but only builds up.
Of course, love must be defined precisely to perform so nobly. St. Paul gives an adequate description for
this purpose in today’s first reading. For
Paul love is a gift that everyone has but few develop. Unlike popular ideas of love, it is not an
emotion seeking self-satisfaction.
Rather it is a virtue that both suffers and acts for the good of the
beloved. It will last forever because it
partakes in the Divine which is eternal.
Our model for love is Jesus Christ. He fulfills to the letter every detail of
Paul’s description. We know him through
Baptism and receive him into our hearts and souls in Holy Communion. He enables us to transcend our human nature to
become always patient and kind like his divine self.
