“Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, is not pompous… is not inflated… is not rude… is not quick tempered… It does not seek its own interests, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (cf. 1Corinthians 13:4-7).
Love is quantitative. How much one loves is that much one gives himself up. The more love for others, the less love for oneself.
Love is qualitative. It is not valued by how much it is provided, but by how much of one’s life is imparted.
Love is effective. It moves people, builds trust, and negates enmity.
Love is infective. It blooms with the touch, flourishes on short distance, but dissipates in prolonged hibernation.
Love is energizing. It invigorates caregiving, eases labor, and burdens not piety.
Love is binding. It bonds the diverse, even the adverse, with the irreconcilable.
Love is blinding. It glosses over mistakes and ignores every defect. It overlooks condition and seeks no condition.
Love is healing. It holds back offenses, salves the hurt, and motivates forgiveness.
Love is enriching. It is the fertilizer that nurtures and propagates every virtue.
Love is like a tree. It roots deeper, endures sturdier, and soars higher as it gets older.
Love is eternal. Faith, hope and love endure to the end, but love lasts forever (cf. 1Corinthintans 13:13).
Love is divine. “God is love, and he who abides in God, abides in love, and God abides in him” (1John 4:16).
“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). VSS
30 Jan 2022. 4th Sunday in OT. Cycle C-2022. Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19 + 1Corinthians 12:31—13:13 + Luke 4:21-30
Picture credit: Old folks in love, by Tristan Le on pexels.com. Caregiver pushes wheelchair, by care.com/senior_care. Covid-19 emergency care, by who.int. Red Cross Disaster Relief, by RedCross.org. God the Father and God the Son, by catholiceducation.org
BrieflectionS 