Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth week in Ordinary Time First Letter to the Corinthians 12:31.13:1-13. Brothers and sisters: Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts. But I shall show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. 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. 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. Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, 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. 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. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 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. 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. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Psalms 33(32):2-3.4-5.12.22. Give thanks to the LORD on the harp; with the ten stringed lyre chant his praises. Sing to him a new song; pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness. For upright is the word of the LORD, and all his works are trustworthy. He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full. Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he has chosen for his own inheritance. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 7:31-35. Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep. For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, He is possessed by a demon. The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. But wisdom is vindicated by all her children. Commentary of the day Saint Bernard (1091-1153), Cistercian monk and doctor of the Church Commentary on the Song of Songs, Sermon 38 The ignorance of those who refuse to turn to God The apostle Paul says that there are some who have no knowledge of God (1 Co 15,34). My opinion is that all those who lack knowledge of God are those who refuse to turn to him. I am certain that they refuse because they imagine this kindly disposed God to be harsh and severe, this merciful God to be callous and inflexible, this lovable God to be cruel and oppressive. So it is that wickedness plays false to itself, setting up for itself an image that does not represent God as he truly is. What are you afraid of, you men of little faith? That he will not pardon your sins? But with his own hands he has nailed them to the cross. That you are used to soft living and your tastes are fastidious? But he knows the clay of which we are made (Gn 2,7). That a prolonged habit of sinning binds you like a chain? But the Lord loosens the shackles of prisoners. Or perhaps that angered by the enormity and frequency of your sins he is slow to extend a helping hand? But where sin abounded, grace became superabundant (Rom 5,20). Are you worried about clothing and food and other bodily necessities so that you hesitate to give up your possessions? But he knows that you need all these things (Mt 6,32). What more can you wish? What else is there to hold you back from the way of salvation? This is what I say: you do not know God, yet you will not believe our words. I should like you to believe those whom experience has taught.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 21:10:34 +0000
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