If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
2 And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated,
5 it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
6 it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
9 For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
11 When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
12 At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
13 So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
34When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together,
35 and one of them [a scholar of the law] tested him by asking,
36 "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"
37 He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
38 This is the greatest and the first commandment.
39 The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
I just had a revelation. One of the things that was stated tonight by one of our newly-Confirmed Catholics struck a chord, and I just realized that I've gotten the greatest lesson that could ever be learned. I don't think anything will ever top this. It's so simple, and so obvious, and so profound that I am literally in tears.
He didn't become Catholic this year because of what any of us SAID. He didn't make his committment because of anything we DID. Although he had questions that were answered during the course of the year, that's not what convinced him, either.
He became Catholic because we love God, and he could see that. He saw God's love in us, expressed through us, and he knew he was home.
So even when we perhaps spoke incorrectly, or when we didn't know the answer, or said or did the wrong thing, it didn't matter. God's love overcame our weaknesses and shone through.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing any of us can EVER do is to love God...and He will do the rest.
9 comments:
Wow! How true is that!
This is what you come up with when you can't sleep, eh?
I don't think we give it much tought, do we, but that RCIA grad sure did.
So what course are you gonna teach at ave maria?
Uncle Jim, LOL!
Riiiiight...teaching at Ave Maria! LOL!
My interview is in a little over an hour...I'll be happy to be accepted as a STUDENT! :-)
"The MOST IMPORTANT thing any of us can EVER do is to love God...and He will do the rest."
So basic, and so easy to lose sight of.
Good luck with your interview, Adoro!
You nailed it.
I am not Catholic today because of anything anyone said, though my rational self would argue with that (because that is what Rational Self does). I am not Catholic today because of fancy logic or all the right answers. I am Catholic today because a man loved me, and his mother loved me too, and so did Mother Mary and her Son. I am Catholic today because of the grace and mercy of LOVE. And the greatest gift I received is being able to tune into that love and find out what it's all about.
Classes are great, because of people and their Rational Self sides. But really, God's got it covered. It's that love thing. :)
Great post.
Thank you, Sarah, and I think YOU nailed it! LOL!
waiting
waiting
waiting
how did the interview go?
uncle jim...about to post on that...hold up. I was about toget started on the post...
Funny despite everything we think we are going to DO for God, it all comes down to loving God and neighbor and he'll do the rest. Life seems to go so much better when I remember this!
Great post.
Fr. V
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