Love
Love is a commitment to leave no one behind on the journey to God.
Reading (1 Corinthians 13: 1-8)
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have the faith to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and even hand over my body, but do not have love, I gain nothing.Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
Song (Psalm 63)
O God, you are my God,
For you I long.
For you my body yearns;
For you my soul thirsts,
Like a land parched,
Lifeless, and without water.So I look to you in the sanctuary
To see your power and glory.
For your love is better than life,
My lips offer you worship.
Reflection
Love is one of the most overused and least understood words in any language. Yet it is the secret to understanding the very meaning of human life. Nothing is more important to our life than to understand what love is and to be sanctified by it.Love is not a feeling. Leaving aside its spurious meanings, love in its essence is thoughts, words, and deeds that promote the good of others. At the heart of love is God, who created us for goodness, and calls us forth to fulfill that goodness in union with him. When we love, we take part in the creative work of God.
We are all on a journey to God. Love is a commitment to leave no one behind. The only things we will take to heaven are our acts of kindness. May we not go to heaven empty-handed, but take with us a treasure of goodness to help enrich the kingdom.
Prayer
God our Father, you created us for love. May we open our hearts to your love, that you may lead us to the eternal kingdom you have prepared for us. And may the light of your love shine in the world through us, that all your children be brought to the joy of eternal life.