First reading 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
The supremacy of charity
Be ambitious for the higher gifts. And I am going to show you a way that is better than any of them.
If I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. If I have the gift of prophecy, understanding all the mysteries there are, and knowing everything, and if I have faith in all its fullness, to move mountains, but without love, then I am nothing at all. If I give away all that I possess, piece by piece, and if I even let them take my body to burn it, but am without love, it will do me no good whatever.
Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.
Love does not come to an end. But if there are gifts of prophecy, the time will come when they must fail; or the gift of languages, it will not continue for ever; and knowledge – for this, too, the time will come when it must fail. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophesying is imperfect; but once perfection comes, all imperfect things will disappear. When I was a child, I used to talk like a child, and think like a child, and argue like a child, but now I am a man, all childish ways are put behind me. Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror; but then we shall be seeing face to face. The knowledge that I have now is imperfect; but then I shall know as fully as I am known.
In short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love.
Responsorial Psalm 32(33):2-5,12,22
Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
Give thanks to the Lord upon the harp,
with a ten-stringed lute sing him songs.
O sing him a song that is new,
play loudly, with all your skill.
For the word of the Lord is faithful
and all his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves justice and right
and fills the earth with his love.
They are happy, whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as his own.
May your love be upon us, O Lord,
as we place all our hope in you.
Gospel Luke 7:31-35
‘We played the pipes, and you wouldn’t dance’
Jesus said to the people:
‘What description can I find for the men of this generation? What are they like? They are like children shouting to one another while they sit in the market-place:
‘“We played the pipes for you,
and you wouldn’t dance;
we sang dirges,
and you wouldn’t cry.”
‘For John the Baptist comes, not eating bread, not drinking wine, and you say, “He is possessed.” The Son of Man comes, eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet Wisdom has been proved right by all her children.’
Growing In Love And Wisdom
In today’s first reading, St Paul speaks to us about the way of love. We may have impressive gifts and talents, but without love, these gifts lose their deepest meaning and purpose. Today, let us prayerfully reflect on St Paul’s description of what love is: it is patient, kind, never jealous, never boastful, never rude or selfish, and it does not bear grudges. Instead, it rejoices in truth, bears with others, hopes and perseveres. We are invited to choose love, and in doing so, we participate in God’s own life.
In the Gospel, the people rejected both John the Baptist and Jesus because they did not agree with their lifestyles; one was too rigid and the other too liberated. Their hearts were closed, dismissing God’s message because it did not come in the way they expected. These two readings challenge us to a more mature faith. We are called not just to admire love, but to live it; not merely to hear God’s message, but to receive it with open hearts. Today, let us root our lives in Christ so that He can help us to grow in love and wisdom.
Reflective question:
What one concrete act of love can I offer today?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year A” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD
