Weekly Words of Wisdom

I went to mass this morning. I felt the need to thank the Lord for His wonderful blessings of love, faith, hope, and strength because this past week has tested my capacity for them, and I am glad to have them restored because of His grace.

So anyways, I was sitting, not really paying attention to the second reading, when something somehow caught my attention. Luckily it did, because I was about to hear one of the most inspiring passages on the Bible. The passage was from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians [1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13] and it went like this:

³¹But eagerly desire the greater gifts.

And now I will show you the most excellent way.

¹If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. ¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. ¹²Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I thought it was so ironic that this was the passage that I heard today because it was so appropriate to the emotions I had been associating with lately. I am surprising myself with my capability to love and embrace the kind of love that God wants us all to possess, and for that, I am grateful.

I'm learning that nothing can get in the way of genuine love especially when God is the center of it all. I know I'm not perfect. In fact, I still have things that I know I need to work on with myself [like stepping out of my comfort zone and not be so shy and appear "anti-social" at times] but I can do that all with Him.

I am empowered by His strength, bounded by His love, and saved by His grace. Every time I feel as if I can no longer go on, I simply talk to Him and ask for strength, and I feel renewed once again. I want to continue onto this path, His path, and His will. I want to continue to have faith, to have hope, and to have love like He taught me, and continues to teach me.